Lusambo's suspension came after he posted a video on Holy Thursday, slamming the Congolese bishops' March 4 exhortation urging priests who have fathered children to seek laicisation and care for their families

The video quickly went viral on social media.

"If I have four or five of them (children), who will raise them if you take away my cassock? Are you going to give me the money since there is no final severance pay in this service? Should I found my own Church?

"I have sacrificed my entire youth to the service of the Church and no one can take away this cassock. Otherwise, we will also ask the pope to suspend those among them who have children," he says.

Then, making a gesture of putting a bishop's hat on his head, he says: "I know one who has four".

Parishioners have been told Lusambo has been "temporarily removed" as pastor of his parish pending investigations into the incident.

The majority of the Congolese clergy say that the priest - who appears in the video causally dressed and drinking beer - has a great sense of humour.

They suggested he probably wanted to make people laugh by making these remarks.

"Even if the video makes people smile, what he says is not without meaning.

"If there are bishop-fathers, they should also be removed from the clerical state. Moreover, the question of the reintegration of dismissed priests is raised," an unnamed colleague of Lusambo says.

In a recent interview with La Croix, it was revealed the National Episcopal Conference of the Congo has not made any general provisions to support laicised priests affected by this ruling, the women or their children.

"The support is done on a case by case basis at the level of the dioceses. These are cases that the Church is called upon to treat with great humanity," the Conference said at the time.

Lusambo, who completed a doctorate in 2005 at the Rome-based Pontifical Biblical Institute, is highly regarded by Congolese Catholics. He has been hailed for leading the laity during the 2017 and 2018 marches for democratic changeover.

Source

• La Croix

The National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO) recently issued a 19-page internal document, "At the School of Jesus Christ: for an authentic priestly life."

The paper aims to "break the silence" on this issue.

The bishops, who reviewed the text during their March plenary assembly, have not yet made the document public outside of clerical circles.

In the text, the bishops express sorrow, "noting" that some priests "do not lead an authentic priestly life."

They emphasise "the incompatibility of the responsibility of fatherhood with ministry and priestly life in the Roman Catholic system". The bishops insist on the need for these priests to adopt "a responsible behaviour towards children born of a woman and a priest."

They urge priests to "take complete care of them and to request a dispensation from priestly obligations from the Holy Father."

The document was sent to all priests in the 48 dioceses of DR Congo on March 4. This was one day after it was officially announced that Pope Francis would be visiting the country from July 2-5.

Pope Francis has made the fight against all sorts of abuse in the Church one of his major battles.

While he was archbishop of Buenos Aires, Francis expressed himself on the issue in a book entitled 'On Heaven and Earth'.

"If a priest comes to me and says that he has got a woman pregnant, I gradually help him understand that natural law takes precedence over his rights as a priest," he explained.

"As a result, he has to leave the ministry and take responsibility for the child, even if he decides not to marry the woman" the future pope said. "Because if he has the right to have a mother, the child also has the right to have a father with a face."

Nearly a dozen Catholic priests have been dismissed in the DR Congo this year for reasons that have never been made clear.

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

The Diocese of Tshumbe said it had dismissed three priests in March without providing a reason. Inquiries were met with a wall of silence.

Sources

La Croix International

Xaverian International