“Be pilgrims of peace”: Statement of the ACEAC Standing Committee Meeting in Kigali

STATEMENT OF THE ACEAC STANDING COMMITTEE MEETING IN KIGALI

Kigali, 29 July 2025

“Be pilgrims of peace”

1- We, the Archbishops and Bishops, members of the Standing Committee of the Association of Episcopal Conferences of Central Africa (ACEAC), are gathered in Kigali from 27 to 29 July 2025, at the Vincent Pallotti Centre, on the sidelines of the Plenary Assembly of SECAM (Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar).

2- We thank the Archdiocese and the people of Kigali for their hospitality. Our thanks go in particular to His Eminence Antoine Cardinal Kambanda, Archbishop of Kigali and President of the Episcopal Conference of Rwanda (C.EP.R), as well as to the entire Church-Family of God in Rwanda.

3- During our meeting, we gave thanks to God who continues to give us the strength, as Pastors, to comfort his People in the Great Lakes sub-region. In the difficult context of crisis that our sub-region is going through, our Church is called to bear witness, through prayer and pastoral action, to its prophetic mission with a view to the advent of peace and social cohesion.

4- We also gave thanks to God for the election of the Successor of St Peter in the person of Pope Leo XIV. His first meditations reflect the greatness of a personality strongly committed to the advent of peace in the world. We therefore dare to hope that he will implore divine blessings for peace and coexistence upon our region, which he knows well, so that bridges rather than barriers may be built between families, peoples and countries.

5- We strongly condemn the massacre of Christians, attributed to the activism of armed groups, which took place on Sunday 27 July 2025 during Sunday worship at the parish of Komanda in the diocese of Bunia in the Democratic Republic of Congo. We offer our condolences to the people of Komanda for this ordeal, to Bishop Fulgence Muteba, President of the National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO), and to Bishop Dieudonné Uringi, Bishop of Bunia. We assure the parents, relatives and families of the victims of our spiritual closeness.

6- This massacre is yet another illustration of the trivialisation of life that has characterised certain areas of our sub-region for more than three decades. We sympathise with all those who are directly or indirectly affected by the harmful consequences of various crises and invite all Christians not to fall into indifference when members of our communities are affected by suffering of any kind. Our prayers and acts of charity will be directed in a special way towards the most vulnerable, including women and children. In this regard, we are greatly encouraged by the presence, during our session, of joint delegations of women from border dioceses of our three countries in the sub-region who, through their pilgrimage, support our preferential option for the pastoral care of peace.

7- We urge all Christians in the sub-region not to give in to despair in the face of extremism in all its forms, which affects and brings grief to populations and communities. On the contrary, we urge them to develop sincere and peaceful exchanges between communities, structures and individuals living or working in the sub-region.

8- Following Our Lord Jesus Christ, Prince of Peace, we welcome in faith all initiatives likely to contribute to lasting peace in the sub-region, and encourage stakeholders to give priority to the well-being of the people in the talks.

9- May the Virgin Mary, Mother of Verve, intercede for peace in our sub-region.

Done at Kigali, 29 July 2025

Most Rev. José MOKO
President of ACEAC

Most Rev. Vincent HAROLIMANA
1st Vice-President

Most Rev. Bonaventure NAHMANA
2nd Vice-President