From the 2nd to the 18th of February, Minister General, Br Massimo Fusarelli, and General Definitor, Br Victor Quematcha, are in the Democratic Republic of Congo for a fraternal visit of the St. Benedict African and Saint Mary of the Angels Provinces.
On February the 2nd, they arrived in the “St. Benedict the African” Province, entering the city of Goma, in the east, coming from Nairobi. They were warmly greeted by Friars, Secular Franciscans, Franciscan Sisters, and many young people. They travelled to a new house, opened there less than a year ago, in a city which has two million inhabitants and is the largest city in all of eastern Congo.
Signs of war and poverty were immediately evident in this region which has suffered much in the last thirty years. Their wars may have largely been forgotten, but the violence, abuse, and continual instability of the region has created for many a devastating reality and an uncertain future. The interests of the powerful and corruption from the north make it so things are unlikely to change. The land has been violated by the indiscriminate search for precious minerals, which the west demands, by deforestation, the polluting of water sources, and the abuse of the local people.
After sharing fraternal time with the various brothers and sisters of the Franciscan family, Br Massimo and Br Victor had an audience with the bishop of Goma who explained the details of this very difficult situation and also echoed the call of Christians of that territory to be people of hope.
On the morning of the 3rd, after Mass and Morning Prayer, the Friars visited 14 refugee camps where 75,000 foreigners (of the millions in Goma) currently reside. The Minister General and General Definitor walked through these camps and, rhetoric aside, found them to be a living hell. Thousands of people are crammed into tight spaces; 78 were counted living under one small plastic tent, while other larger tents had as many as 500 people. Many children, including newborn babies, were huddled together for the daily distribution of food by the Franciscan Sisters of Our Lord of the Mountain. Many elderly women, as well as young girls and boys, must work hard daily just to survive.
The Friars listened to them as the refugees described the daily horrors of violence and insecurity they face in these camps. They saw the remains of a grammar school that had been destroyed by a bomb just the day before they arrived by rebels at the gate of the city.
After being confronted with such a harsh reality, Br Massimo said: “No one is speaking about this humanitarian crisis except in an episodic way. The war that plagues this land is never mentioned in the media. We mustn’t forget the courageous and tenacious people here and must find ways to offer hope to them and their children. The work of the Church and of us Religious is great, but it is only a drop in the bucket as long as the international powers at be refused to confront the problems of this land and begin to care for its people. Let us pray for peace, which is always achieved by working for justice, and accept nothing less.”
