The Role of the Congolese Catholic Church

In what follows, I will be raising the issue of the role of the Congolese Catholic Church to promote an economic and social justice in relation to oil. Indeed, it should be noted that the Congolese Catholic Church is becoming more and more present in pivotal areas such as human rights, democracy, justice and peace, the social and intellectual apostolate, partnership, management of natural resources (common good, etc.). It is mainly on the management of oil that this study will be sketching the outlines shaping the attitude of the Congolese Catholic Church for greater transparency. What role may be played by the Congolese Catholic Church in a country where more than 42 percent of the population is Catholic and where Catholics have played an important role in the public realm? This study comes within the scope of social ethics and will also address political as well as theological, historical, philosophical, economic, religious data, socio-anthropological, biblical data, etc. I argue that the Congolese Catholic Church might play, at the national level, an important role based on the promotion of both economic and social justice in order to move the Congo to move forward.

Hermann-Habib Kibangou is preparing a PhD in sociology at Laval University (Quebec, Canada). He is the author of The Mvengian Vision of Anthropological Pauperization (2022).