“Mercy opens doors to hope” | DIOCESE OF BUKAVU (RdC)
In this column, throughout the year, the journey of the Jubilee as told by spazio + spadoni from different parts of the world
Sister Louise Mulinbinge Batundji, of the Missionary Congregation “Sisters of St. Gemma,” tells us about the opening of the Jubilee Year in Bukavu, capital of South Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo: one of the areas plagued for decades by violence committed by dozens of armed groups.
(by Sister Louise Mulinbinge Batundji)
On Sunday, December 29, the Holy Door also opened in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo.
It was 10 a.m. when, before starting the celebration, we all gathered in front of the Archbishopric and recited together the prayer of the beginning of the Jubilee Year before the Cross of Christ, our Redeemer.
We were a large number of lay and religious faithful.
Shortly afterwards, the pilgrimage to the Holy Door began, which was opened by Archbishop Msgr. François-Xavier Maroy Rusengo. On the way, the Cross of Christ was carried by seminarians of the Archdiocese.
All the faithful in procession passed through the Holy Door, moved and emotional. The celebration continued with the rite of purification with water and the renewal of baptismal promises. Everything then proceeded according to the liturgy.
The opening of the Jubilee Year, was preceded by an ad hoc preparation through a special
Novena that was interspersed with the Christmas Novena.
As everyone knows, Bukavu and more generally the Democratic Republic of Congo are marked by painful plagues such as that of “street children.”
A few days ago, Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo, pointed out the causes that drive minors to live on the streets: extreme poverty, premature death of parents. Children and young people find themselves homeless, sleeping wherever they can and trying to survive as best they can, unfortunately very often through violent, illegal behavior that compromises their future.
Here then that this Jubilee, as Pope Francis told us in the Bull of Indiction, calls us to be “tangible signs of hope for so many brothers and sisters living in conditions of hardship,” all over the world.
My sisters and I who work here in Congo feel invested with an even greater commitment to support those who suffer not only through concrete aid but through prayer and the Word of God, bringing Christian hope to the darkest and most hidden corners of this great city, places unknown to the eyes of the world. Let us not forget that along with faith and charity, hope is a theological virtue, the foundation of Christian action.
The metaphor of the journey also made us Sisters of St. Gemma begin the pilgrimage together with the novice and postulant girls in formation as pilgrims of hope from our home to Our Lady of Peace Cathedral in Bukavu.
On a bright sunny day, we walked on foot to our destination, which is the encounter with Christ, the only Redeemer of man.
First the large assembly gathered then the pilgrimage to the Holy Door and finally the Eucharistic celebration.
It was a stimulus for us to begin a spiritual journey as pilgrims of hope on the roads of reconciliation, peace and conversion of heart with special attention to those who are truly less fortunate in life, especially vulnerable children.
Every day, Sister Hélène together with the young people in formation make a commitment to their education.
We shared with a small group of young people who attend our centers for the recovery of street children, the feast of St. Stephen’s Day, and those we follow in the community pilgrimaged to the convent to find something for the Christmas and New Year’s party.
This was concluded with a New Year’s Day lunch eaten together with some vulnerable girls and their mother whom we follow closely and our own Susanna, a child with disabilities who lives with us in the community for a period of treatment.
May it truly be a year of hope, a Jubilee of peace and commitment for the conversion of the heart and the liberation of all that in evil oppresses man and is at the root of so much suffering of children here in Bukavu.
Sister Louise Mulinbinge Batundji
(Missionary Congregation Sisters of St. Gemma)