Congolese bishops urge clerics with kids to leave priesthood

Congolese bishops urge clerics with kids to leave priesthood

KINSHASA (DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO)
La Croix International [France]

April 6, 2022

By Lucie Sarr

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In the run-up to the July papal visit, Catholic bishops in the DR-Congo have urged priests who have fathered children to seek laicization and care for their families

Since the beginning of this year nearly a dozen Catholic priests in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have been dismissed from the clerical state for reasons that have never been made clear.

The press releases announcing the dismissals have attracted attention precisely because of their evasiveness.

In the most recent one, at the end of March, the Diocese of Tshumbe in the center of the country said it had dismissed three priests without giving a reason.

Inquiries were met with a wall of silence.

Now it has been revealed that the National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO) recently issued a 19-page internal document, dated March 4, that asks priests who have fathered children to give up their priesthood to take care…