Bishop Nicolas Djomo of Tshumbe, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), met with diocesan staff members, May 19, during his tour of several California dioceses.
He has been active in raising international awareness about the on-going conflicts in the eastern part of Congo as well as pushing for policies and laws for the management of Congo’s bountiful natural resources.
Those natural resources are the good news. The mostly bad news is the resources are not benefitting Congo’s people.
Working with Catholic Relief Services in the United States and with Caritas International, Bishop Djomo is trying to educate more affluent parts of the world to not only help in the short term, but to realize the international connections that keep countries like his poor while those in the First World prosper.
About 50 percent of the 60 million people in Congo are Catholic and the Church has been the only organization to take care of the people, the bishop said, providing 50 percent of the nation’s schools and 40 percent of the hospitals, and other social services.
“The Catholic Church is very influential in Congo,” Bishop Djomo said, “but we are living with people in the grassroots and are attempting to deal with their problems at that level.
“We try advocacy in the U.S. and in Europe. Congo government is very weak and it has been difficult to deal with government leaders. Extremist groups have driven the government out and the country is at their mercy.”
CRS and Caritas are also engaged with the thousands of refugees, many of them internally displaced persons or those from neighboring countries, due to years of tribal warfare and rip-offs of natural resources.
The present situation is due to the multi-decades of bad government, exploitation of natural resources and wars.
Conflict in the DRC has been ongoing since the 1960s when, as is true of other African nations, European colonial grasp became unhinged.
Congo gained independence from Belgium (“Belgian Congo”) in June 1960 and the decolonization process was quick but produced instability.
There are many local tribal languages, but the official language of Congo is still French, Bishop Djomo explained, saying he had to study English after he was ordained.
Joseph Mobutu seized power in 1965 and the country was named “Zaire” in 1971. Mobutu, who gained a reputation as a tyrant, ran a corrupt government which had little concern for its citizens. The economy collapsed, with public services and infrastructure becoming dilapidated.
An armed rebellion led by Laurent Kabila picked up speed in 1996. With Mobutu being forced into exile, Kabila declared himself president.
During this time there were armed actions with neighboring countries including Rwanda, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia for about five years from 1998 to 2003. The death toll reached four million Congolese, Bishop Djomo said.
There were rampant violations of human rights including

tribal genocide, raping of women and the wanton destruction of infrastructure and social services. More than one million families were displaced – refugees in their own country – and even greater poverty flourished.
Laurent Kabila was assassinated and his son Joseph Kabila succeeded him in 2001 when peace was brokered by a United Nations Mission. By 2003 the violence was subsiding and in 2006 Congo held its first free elections to replace the old government.
Today, Bishop Djomo said, the DRC still experiences instability, especially in its eastern provinces where there continue to be numerous military factions. Some of this is the remains of the tribal war between Tutsi and the Hutu people in neighboring Uganda and Rwanda.
The rebel militia pillage Congo’s natural resources, especially its vast mineral wealth, and threaten the livelihoods of Congolese civilians. People have been subjected to sexual violence, illegal taxation and forced military recruitment, according to a CRS report.
Members of these armed militias sell the country’s natural resources to international corporations, Bishop Djomo said.
The DRC, according to CRS, is characterized by one of the worst situations of poverty and human development in sub-Saharan Africa. Life expectancy is 46.1 years of age and 31 percent of children five and under are underweight. The DRC is ranked 177 out of 179 countries by the Human Development Index.
Bishop Djomo, who is also President of the Bishops Conference of Congo, is attempting to raise world awareness and push on a diplomatic level his country’s concerns.
His diocese is largely in a mountainous area and it takes him three days to visit – by car, by boat and by motorcycle. There are 20 parishes, 35 priests and about 20 Religious. There are no missionaries.
Priests visit villages to celebrate Mass, but catechetical leaders are the sustaining element of the local Catholic communities.
Bishop Djomo is focusing on management of Congo’s natural resources by pushing the U.S. Congress to pass Senate Bill 891, the Congo Conflict Minerals Act, sponsored by Sen. Sam Brownback.
The bill would require annual disclosure to the Securities and Exchange Commission of activities involving extraction and sale of columbite-tantalite, cassiterite and wolframite from the DRC.
Columbite-tantalite, especially rich in sub-Saharan Africa, is valuable in hi-tech and is used in electronic devices such as cellular phones and laptop computers. The enormous worldwide demand for this basic metal has driven up its price and has fueled its exploitation in recent years.
Bishop Djomo encourages U.S. Catholics to contact their Congress members and urge support of S891 which would provide for U.S. and multilateral efforts to investigate activities involving natural resources and their illegal acquisition.
The bill would also require the U.S. State Department to monitor financing of armed groups in mineral-rich areas as well as human rights violations in eastern Congo.