Catholic Church rallies against Kabila of DRC
News & Trends •
source63 the catholic church in the democratic republic of congo is mobilising the to force president joseph kabila to organise elections and relinquish power1 the huge rally is also to remember those killed in last months protest1 in a statement the church said the catholic church in kinshasa is spearheading what it hopes would be a huge rally on march 16 at notre dame du congo cathedral as a focal point for the struggle against kabilas prolonged presidency1 according to the new constitution adopted in 2006 kabilas presidency was supposed to expire on december 20 2016 ten years after he was elected for his first five-year term in office1 the electoral authority in drc had announced in september 2016 that elections would not be held until early 20181 since then talks have focused on building a census over the handling of the elections which the constitution disqualifies kabila from contesting1 we have our heroes for democracy. they have a name a face an age. they are dead they are alive. they will continue to demand a rigorous and active citizen participation to avoid falling back into a new dictatorship that will cost human lives a statement by the church said1 the church is also upping the ante against kabila for continuing to stay put despite the expiry in december 2016 of his second term1 the church also urged the public to continue with their civil disobedience by ringing bells in parishes across the country at 9pm every thursday with others encouraged to use whistles car horns and saucepans1 in addition to their campaign of non-violence the church also undertook to launch diplomatic overtures targeting drcs partners through the congolese diaspora to ratchet up pressure on kabila1 at the end of three huge marches between december 31 2017 and february 25 2018 the church claimed a series of victories from its civil disobedience aimed at unmasking a dictatorship hiding behind democracy1 the church also claimed it has conquered its own fear transferring it to our political and military leaders the police and other security operatives1 another victory it is claiming is the moral authority it commands from its congregations a trait admired by the rest of the world1 the decision to bring further pressure to bear on the government by the church comes after bishop fridolin ambongo was inducted in his position as coadjutor archbishop of kinshasa1 bishop ambongo replaces the retired cardinal laurent monsengwo as head of the catholic church in kinshasa1 the church is referring to people who died on february 25 during a mass demonstration including young rossy kadima who was killed in lemba district in kinshasa1