Chancery of DR Congo’s Kinshasa Archdiocese Decries Sunday “degrading treatment” Cardinal Ambongo Suffered at Airport

Meanwhile, on April 8, the Governor of South Ubangi Province in DRC, Jean-Claude Mabenze Gbey Benz, issued an order renaming the Kermesse Space, a ceremonial park located in the town of Gemena, to “Tata Fridolin Cardinal Ambongo Besungu Park.”

Governor Gbey Benz said the new name is “worth its weight” given that Cardinal Ambongo is “a worthy son of South-Ubangi and is a dignified member of the Roman Catholic Church in DRC, Africa and the rest of the world, as one of Pope Francis’ advisors.”

“We have nothing to give you that can surpass the joy you have given us,” the Governor further said during the April 8 Eucharistic celebration that Cardinal Ambongo presided over.

Referring to the ceremonial park, he added, “We’re going to turn it into a good public garden where we’ll place your statue so that our young people who are in difficulty and who come here will say: if God had taken Cardinal Ambongo here to raise him where he is now, we too could have the solution to our problems.”

In his remarks during the April 8 occasion, Cardinal Ambongo said he had the Congolese Governor that “history is made; and the gesture we’ve just made is part of that history.”

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“You can give gifts, materials…You can use them afterwards, maybe you forget. But this gesture goes down in history,” he further said, and added, “I’d like to thank the Governor and Mayor of Gemena and all their subjects for this initiative.”

Cardinal Ambongo went on to caution Congolese politicians against hate speech that he said fosters division in the country. He said, “Politicians love division and also want to divide us. When they come to power, do they care about us?”

“We are children of the same family. Children of God. Let no one divide us. Always be united,” the Congolese Cardinal said, and continued, “Our country will not move forward if we are divided. Hate speech, tribalist rhetoric, defamation, the low blows that some people mount for their own honor to gain access to power. Let’s not follow them.”

The newly renamed Tata Fridolin Cardinal Ambongo Besungu Park is a popular place that plays host to large gatherings.