Leo XIV remembers Congolese Blessed Floribert Bwana Chui: He loved the poor with the charity of Christ

After the beatification last Sunday of Floribert Bwana Chui, the young Congolese who “loved the charity of Christ,” Pope Leo XIV received bishops from this African country in the Vatican, as well as his mother, family members and the community of Sant’Egidio, to which he belonged.

In his speech, the Holy Father remembered the words that Pope Francis directed to young people during his apostolic trip to the Congo Democratic Republic over the new Blessed, martyred in rubber on July 8, 2007.

“As Cristiano, he prayed, he thought of others and chose to be honest, saying no to the dirt of corruption. That is to keep their hands clean, while the hands that traffic with money are stained with blood,” said Pope Francis on February 2, 2023.

“Where did a young man get corruption, so entrenched in the common mentality and capable of all violence?” Asked Leo XIV below.

For the pontiff, the decision to keep Blessed’s clean hands, who was a customs officer, “matured in a conscience formed by prayer, listening to the word of God and communion with the brothers.”

The poor, decisive in their life

He also recalled that the poor were decisive in his life: “He had a relationship committed to the street boys, pushed rubber by war, despised and orphans.”

“He loved them with the charity of Christ: he was interested in them and worried about his human and Christian formation. Floribert’s strength grew in fidelity to prayer and the poor,” added the pontiff.

In addition, he remarked that he was “a man of peace”, since “he carried out his struggle for peace with meekness, serving the poor, practicing friendship and encounter in a divided society”, especially in a region “as suffered as the Kivu, torn by violence.”

He said that the young man, “nothing resigned to evil, had a dream, fed by the words of the Gospel and by the closeness of the Lord.”

“Many young people felt abandoned and hopeless, but Floribert listened to the word of Jesus: ‘I will not leave you orphans; I will return to you.’ No land is abandoned by God!” He exclaimed below.

The valuable testimony of laity and young people

Also, according to the pontiff, Floribert invited his friends “not to resign himself no longer to live for themselves. In spite of everything, he expressed confidence in the future.”

In this context, he recalled the words of the new Blessed: “The Lord prepares a new world, where there will be no war, the hatred will be erased, violence will not look more like a thief at night … Children will grow in peace. Yes, it is a great dream. So, let’s not live for what is not worth it! Let’s live rather for this great dream!”

For the Holy Father, “this African martyr, in a continent rich in young people, shows how they can be a” unarmed and disarming “peace. Therefore, he said that the Congolese lay” highlights the valuable testimony of the laity and young people. ”

Finally, he requested his intercession and that of the Virgin Mary to be done soon “the long -awaited peace in the Kivu, in the Congo and throughout Africa.”

The Basilica of San Pablo Extramuros is flooded with songs and African rhythms

On Sunday, June 15, Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of Dicastery for the causes of the saints, presided over the beatification ceremony of the young Congolese Floribert Bwana Chui.

The Basilica of San Pablo Extramuros was flooded with songs and African rhythms in the emotional beatification of the young man, who in 2007 and with only 26 years was killed for not accepting corruption at the border with Rwanda, where he worked as a customs.

The bishop of the rubber diocese, Mons. Willy Ngumen, and other representatives of the Congolese Church also participated in the celebration.

At the beginning of the celebration, a relic of the martyr was processed to the altar, which was adorned with flowers for veneration.

The faithful testimony of the young layman

In his homily, Cardinal Semeraro valued the “faithful testimony” of this young and secular, who was responsible for the community of San Egidio in his city. “He opened completely to love, to the point that he let him model him even in the depths of his being and became the compass that oriented his decisions,” he explained.

Thus, he also indicated how the reading of the Bible was fundamental in the young man’s life:

“Precisely this was what Floribert discovered listening to the Word of God in the light of prayer; that there is greater joy in giving than to receive,” said the cardinal, who found that precisely from there his concern and attention was born “for the most despised and gum marginals: the street children, for whom it was always a symbol of hope.”

Therefore, according to the purple, the new Blessed did not get tired of repeating: “Everyone has the right to peace in their heart.”

“Today, these words impact more than ever,” said Cardinal Semeraro – in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a land strongly marked by violence and war, and where many people are still looking for peace. “

In fact, this beatification has been carried out in Rome, because in rubber “there are no safety and tranquility conditions to celebrate it there,” explained the purple.

In addition, Floribert wanted to make a pilgrimage to Rome someday and, in some way, “today his wish is fulfilled,” he appreciated below.

The new Blessed “wanted to be a man of peace” and, therefore, “today we must do that that aspiration for a Congo in peace, that can sit at the same table as a family.”

During The Angelus who prayed In the Plaza de San Pedro on Sunday, June 15, Pope Leo XIV said that Floribert “opposed injustice and defended the little ones and the poor.” He added: “That his testimony give value and hope to the youth of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and all of Africa!”