Official Distances DR Congo’s Catholic Archdiocese of Kinshasa from Accusation of Mismanagement

Also participating in the Diocesan Clergy Day convention were those at the helm of various Archdiocesan departments and offices, including the pastoral, finance, human resources, Caritas, education, and development among others, each of them giving a report about his respective areas of responsibility.   

In the statement, Fr. Mamvemba says that the “synodal exercise” of report presentation was “brought to an abrupt halt by a colleague, who had deliberately chosen to break off dialogue and communion with the Archbishop.”

The colleague Priest, assumed to have been Fr. Placide, is said to have prevented the other Clergy present in the room from asking questions about their concerns. 

“After this interruption, we were surprised to find that a few hours later a document was published on social networks,” Fr. Mamvemba says of the July 4 document in which Fr. Placide raised concerns about food and health care for Priests and Seminarians in the Archdiocese of Kinshasa.

In the document, Fr. Placide also called for immediate improvements and the relaunch of key initiatives such as the construction of a nursing home for elderly Priests.

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Fr. Mamvemba says that the motive of Fr. Placide’s publication was “to cast opprobrium on the Local Ordinary of Kinshasa.”

“This behavior is deplored by the vast majority of Kinshasa's clergy, who do not recognize themselves in this letter, which contains claims that contradict the facts and service reports presented during this Clergy Day,” the Chancellor of Kinshasa Catholic Archdiocese says.

Responding to the allegation that the Clergy of the Archdiocese of Kinshasa are relegated, Fr. Mamvemba says, “The Cardinal ensures that every Priest is treated with dignity and fairness.”

“It should also be noted that the notion of a salary for Priests is not ecclesiastical. Rather, they are paid a fair wage, so that they can live not in luxury, but with dignity,” the official of the Archdiocese of Kinshasa says.

He adds that for “a Church on the move”, reaching out to the people of God living in the outskirts of the Catholic Archdiocese should be equated to following in the footsteps of Jesus who had “nowhere to lay his head”.

Such a responsibility, Fr. Mamvemba says, is “in no way a punishment”, but “should be a source of joy and hope for the faithful of these outlying parishes thirsting for the Word of God.”

Fr. Mamvemba further says that Fr. Placide had not “presented himself to the competent authority for his official recognition” by ACKIN, and notes that his publication could therefore not legitimately commit the Association of the Clergy of Kinshasa, nor speak in its name.

Agnes Aineah is a Kenyan journalist with a background in digital and newspaper reporting. She holds a Master of Arts in Digital Journalism from the Aga Khan University, Graduate School of Media and Communications and a Bachelor's Degree in Linguistics, Media and Communications from Kenya's Moi University. Agnes currently serves as a journalist for ACI Africa.