AFRICA/CONGO - The Catholic Church presents a report on poverty: “We should renew our preference for the poor,” says the President of the Bishops’ Conference

Brazzaville (Agenzia Fides) – “The results of the investigation on poverty are necessary. They are the sign of the efforts of an evangelical lucidity that the Church tries to make, so as to be evermore faithful to her mission of evangelization, which implies preaching and living the Gospel in the heart of the complex fabric of social relations,” said Bishop Lous Portella-Mbuyu of Kinkala, President of the Catholic Conference of Bishops in Congo (Congo Brazzaville), in presenting the conclusions from a study done by the Catholic Church on poverty in the country, which is one of the most important producers of African fuel and whose population, however, never sees the profits of fuel investments.
The study was performed by Caritas-Congo, the Bishops’ Justice and Peace Commission, and several foreign associations, such as Caritas-France, Catholic Relief Services-Caritas USA, and Misereor. With this study, the Catholic Church is trying to offer additional information to the Poverty Strategy Reduction Paper (PSRP).
The study was done based on 80,728 Congolese people, or 12,908 families. Of these people, 30,082 (4,980 families) are determined as being the poorest. The study, therefore, focused on the situation of these people. The major difficulties they find are lack of access to drinking water, sufficient nourishment, electricity, and stable employment. The study showed that 58.5% of the poor go one or more days per week without eating; 91% have water stored in canisters and those who live in rural areas are forced to go 8 kilometers in search of drinking water. In the case of sickness or in an accident, the poor have no means to care for themselves. The dependence on relatives and friends generates sentiments of solitude and exclusion.
“The lack of employment is also a key factor in social exclusion. The youth are especially restless, as the future does not seem to hold great promise,” the study said.
“For us, the Church and all those of good will, this report makes us think. We should renew our preferential option for the poor and make the fight against poverty a priority in our pastoral commitments,” the President of the Congolese Bishops’ Conference concluded. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 03/10/2008)