African bishops have urged Christians across the continent and its islands, as well as all people of goodwill, to pray and fast for peace in the face of the growing violence and instability in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The appeal was made as M23 rebels supported by Rwanda made their way into Bukavu, the eastern Congo’s second-largest city.
In order to pray for God’s intervention to put an end to the ongoing hostilities in parts of Africa and to provide comfort to those who are suffering, the African bishops have called on the continent’s society to join them in a triduum of fasting and prayer from March 3–5, 2025.
The bishops said in a statement released Friday 14, and signed by the SECAM president Fridolin Cardinal Ambongo Besungu. “We know that Africa’s rich mineral deposits, truly a potential source of prosperity, have instead continued to be a source of conflict. The desire to control and appropriate these resources motivates powerful nations and multinational corporations to fund armed factions in some African countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Nigeria, Mozambique, Sudan, etc, thereby perpetuating, violence, displacement and instability.” As peacemakers, the bishops stress that God’s people should “choose dialogue over division, love over hatred, and hope over despair.”
They also added in their statement, “No one can stand alone; we are one body in Christ. As shepherds of the Church in Africa, we commit to strengthening the structures of communion and ensuring that the Church remains a voice of truth, justice, and hope in our society.”