A Catholic priest serving in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) spoke about the “general silence” on matters of terminating pregnancies in Africa and underscored the need to counter the culture of death and promote the dignity of life as explained in St. Paul VI’s encyclical letter Humanae Vitae.
On 19 June, Father Apollinaire Cibaka Cikongo, rector of the University of Mbujimayi in DRC, lamented that the silence over abortions in Africa is sometimes “terrifying.”
Recently, an article was published in the U.N. press stating that over 200 women received abortion care between April 11 and May 11,” Cikongo said, adding: “This means that more than 200 children were killed in one region alone.”
According to Cikongo, “the people who perform these abortions do it in good faith, as they say that these children are not wanted, they are the result of rape, so terminating their lives is not a problem.”
“There is a social debate about these issues, but there is a prevailing culture that takes advantage of the general silence,” Cikongo said.
“There is a silence even within the Church,” he continued. “For example, there have been 200 children who were aborted, and I haven’t heard the Church say anything about it. There is sometimes a terrifying silence.”
Cikongo said the “sometimes terrifying” silence extends to medical clinics, which promote the use of abortion and contraceptives to women in Africa, including where Church personnel serve.
“I have witnessed situations where in a hospital pharmacy, there is a religious sister there with posters promoting contraception and abortion programmes,” Cikongo lamented.
“Sometimes it is out of ignorance, but many times it’s done in good faith or complicity because these programs are funded,” he continued. “If they want their hospital to receive subsidies, they have to accept assistance that includes contraception and abortion.”
The priest further recounted: “Even in the most remote villages, you can find health centers without microscopes but with condoms and contraceptive pills, focusing on fighting against life instead of identifying diseases that people have.”
For Cikongo, part of the solution is to promote the dignity of human life through the message of Humanae Vitae. He called for the translation of the 1968 encyclical letter into local languages and its distribution to promote the sanctity of life in DRC, which he said has suffered from decades of violent conflicts.