Pope Leo XIV said this at the Angelus of Holy Trinity Sunday. Floribert Bwana Chui, a young Congolese martyr, "was killed at the age of twenty-six because, as a Christian, he opposed injustice and defended the little ones and the poor. May his witness give courage and hope to the young people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and of all Africa." noted the Pontiff.
Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, presided over the beatification in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. The ceremony was attended by Congolese prelates, including Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo, Archbishop of Kinshasa. Also Monsignor Willy Ngumbi, Bishop of Goma, the diocese of origin of the future Blessed. And the Congolese community in Rome.
Martyr of honesty
Stanislas Kambashi SJ, has recalled in Vatican News that Pope Francis recognized the martyrdom of Floribert Bwana Chui last November 25, "for hatred of the faith". He summed up his life as a martyr of honesty and moral integrity. The young man from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was a commissioner at the Congolese Control Office (OCC), the national customs and goods control agency.
Floribert was responsible for assessing the conformity of products crossing the eastern border of the Democratic Republic of Congo. His refusal to give in to corruption cost him his life. He decided not to allow foodstuffs from Rwanda to enter his country unless they had obtained the necessary authorizations for marketing and consumption. According to some witnesses, "Bwana Chui preferred to die rather than let in food that could have poisoned a large number of people".
In the name of their Christian faith
Floribert Bwana Chuiwhich belonged to the Community of Sant Egidio of Goma, was abducted on July 7, 2007. Two days later his body was found in front of the Université Libre des Pays des Grands Lacs (ULPGL-Goma), a private Christian educational institution in the province of North Kivu.
Gertrude Kamara Ntawiha, Floribert's mother, has expressed her joy and gratitude for the news that relieves the pain she was in after the tragic death of her son: "He was killed in the name of his Christian faith," she said.
