A young martyr from Africa, who with his sacrifice testified to resistance to corrupt powers, in the name of the Gospel and justice, will become blessed. Monsignor Théophile Kaboy, bishop of the diocese of Goma, capital of North Kivu, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, officially opened the canonical process for the cause of beatification of Floribert Bwana Chuia young man from Goma, who was part of the Community of Sant’Egidio and was tortured and killed on 9 July 2007, at the age of 26, for not wanting to accept a corruption attempt.
Floribert worked as a customs official on the border with Rwanda and one day he refused to let through, in exchange for money, a large load of spoiled food that would have been placed in the market of his city. On November 25, Pope Francis authorized the promulgation of the decree regarding his “martyrdom”. A sign of hope in the serious crisis that is gripping North Kivu, where the violent civil conflict between the armed rebel group M23 and the government army has resumed for two years, forcing thousands of inhabitants to abandon their villages, which have fallen under the control of rebels, and seek refuge in Goma and the surrounding areas of the city.
«In a belligerent region, with many ethno-political movements in conflict, crossed by strong economic interests, which border and intersect with the criminal, Floribert has been inhabited since he was young by a great desire to live, and also to do good to others. The meeting with Sant’Egidio led him to the poor, to street kids, seen by people as marginal, criminal and violent gangs who steal and intimidate. He took him to the School of Peace, which he considered the laboratory of the new Congolese.” Andrea Riccardifounder of the Community of Sant’Egidio, remembered Floribert with these words in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere in Rome. «In this time, with little hope of peace and liberation from evil and its multiple agents, our Floribert is a lamp that shines in a dark place. And it gives us hope that the day will dawn and the morning star will rise in our hearts.”
(Photo from the Community of Sant’Egidio website)
