A Congolese priest who was killed in a hail of bullets was a “martyr of the truth”, according to a priest who knew him.
Assumptionist Fr Vincent Machozi, 51, had previously received death threats for drawing attention to the suffering of the Nande people in the Democratic Republic of Congo. According to News.va, the official Vatican news portal, this suffering was caused by “different armed groups dedicated to the illegal exploitation of [the metallic ore] coltan in the Territory of Beni, often with the connivance of the regular army”.
Fr Machozi had just visited his mother and held a meeting with the elders of Butembo last month when a jeep with 10 armed soldiers arrived at his house.
Assumptionist Fr Benoit Griere, the order’s superior general, said: “The soldiers demanded to know where Vincent Machozi was. Figuring out who he was in the small group gathered there, the assailants immediately riddled him with bullets. He died instantly.”
The News.va account said his last words were “Why are you killing me?” Fr Mulumba Kambale Matsongani, a Congolese Assumptionist based in America, studied and served in Massachusetts with Fr Machozi. They co-founded a Congolese Catholic community in Boston archdiocese and an organisation of Nande people in the United States.
Fr Matsongani said: “He was a tremendous teacher. He’s a smart guy and he’s full of initiative. He started an ecumenical movement in the [Congolese] Diocese of Butembo-Beni. He could unite all of the Christian churches to discuss important issues on faith, politics … and this was … appreciated by many.”
Because of the death threats, Fr Machozi came to the United States in 2003, but continued to edit a website, benilubero.com. He returned to the Congo in 2011.
Fr Matsongani said Fr Machozi “could post some truth about what is going on in the Congo, so he was very much immersed in Church and politics”. Among items he posted were interviews with people who escaped massacres, describing what they saw and heard, he said.
Fr Machozi entered the Augustinians of the Assumption aged 17. After studying in France he was ordained a priest in Angers in 1994. He taught at the seminary in Kinshasa, and earned a doctorate at Boston University in conflict resolution.
Benedict XVI, 89 this month, is ‘perfectly lucid’, says Vatican
Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi has insisted there are no particular concerns regarding the health of the Pope Emeritus.
Fr Lombardi issued a statement following an interview with Archbishop Georg Gänswein, the retired pope’s personal secretary, in which the archbishop said Benedict XVI was slowly “fading”.
Archbishop Gänswein told the Italian magazine BenEssere: “In April, Pope Benedict XVI turns 89 years old. He is like a candle that is slowly, serenely fading, as it happens with many of us. He is calm, in peace with God, with himself and the world.”
The retired pope’s personal secretary added that Benedict still retains “his refined, subtle sense of humour” and remains fond of cats.
“Contessa and Zorro, two cats that live in our gardens, come often to say hello to the Pope Emeritus,” he said.
After questions were raised regarding the ex-pontiff’s health, Fr Lombardi said his condition “does not raise any particular concerns”.
“Of course, it is part of the effects of old age and a gradual, growing fragility of the physical condition as with any elderly person,” he said. “[Benedict’s] mind is perfectly lucid.”
Christian women ‘more devout’
Women, especially among Christians around the world, are generally more devout than men, a Pew Research Center study has suggested.
Christian women are likely to attend weekly religious services, be involved in daily prayer and consider religion important in their lives at higher rates than men, according to the study’s findings. But among Muslims, religious practice by men was significantly higher than by women.
Areas of Catholic Herald business are still recovering post-pandemic.
However, we are reaching out to the Catholic community and readership, that has been so loyal to the Catholic Herald. Please join us on our 135 year mission by supporting us.
We are raising £250,000 to safeguard the Herald as a world-leading voice in Catholic journalism and teaching.
We have been a bold and influential voice in the church since 1888, standing up for traditional Catholic culture and values. Please consider donating.