Latest news with #FloribertBwanaChuiBinKositi
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
The would-be saint murdered 'mafia-style' for refusing bribes
Two days after he was kidnapped in July 2007, the bloodied and battered corpse of Floribert Bwana Chui Bin Kositi was dumped outside a university campus in the city of Goma, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The newly graduated 26-year-old and devout Catholic was just three months into a job as a customs official - which he had taken on with his usual zeal, by refusing to be bribed. He had stood up to people wanting to smuggle in rice from neighbouring Rwanda that had spoiled and could have proven poisonous if eaten. No-one has ever been arrested for his killing. Fr Francesco Tedeschi, the man campaigning for Kositi to become a Catholic saint, told the BBC his "mafia-style" murder was meant to serve as a warning to anyone else who stood up to corruption - in a part of the world where guns tend to hold sway over the rule of law. Goma is the capital of North Kivu Province, which is rich in covetable minerals - such as those that power mobile phones - and plentiful in rebel and militia groups. But Fr Tedeschi believes the warning completely failed because of Kositi's legacy of love and justice, saying the kindness he had shown through his short life lives on today. His actions, in a place where corruption is the norm, were informed by his faith. It had made him strong enough to resist repeated offers by the smugglers. According to the Catholic Sant'Egidio community of which he was a member - Kositi was first offered $1,000 (£750), then $2,000 "and even more", but consistently said no. "He had received phone calls and pressure, even from public authorities, to turn a blind eye and take his fee as everyone had always done," the Community of Sant'Egidio said. Last year, the Catholic Church declared him a martyr - one of the steps to sainthood - as it felt his death was the result of his unwillingness to sacrifice his Christian values for money. In the Catholic tradition, a saint serves as a model of Christian life and is regarded as a hero of the faith through their exceptional actions of courage. Kositi has since been beatified - at a ceremony in Rome last month - meaning that once one miracle has been attributed to him, he will become a saint. So far this has been a remarkably fast journey, as canonisation - the process to sainthood - can sometimes take decades or centuries - though this is speeded up if the church decides someone died for their faith. Born in Goma in 1981, Kositi was the eldest of three siblings and eight half-siblings, according to a biography written by Sant'Egidio, which described him as coming from a "well-off family". His father was a bank clerk and his mother a border police officer. "Floribert Bwana Chui was an intelligent and eloquent child from birth. He was a polite boy who respected us, his parents. I saw a bright future in him. I was expecting him to be a boy who would get married, have a wife and children," his mother Gertrude Kamara Ntawiha told UN-sponsored Radio Okapi last month before travelling to Rome for her son's beatification - which was also attended by Kositi's two younger brothers. Despite the challenges of living in eastern DR Congo, Kositi was always curious about the world, did well at school and went on to study law at university. It was during his studies that he attended a regional student conference in Rwanda, in 2001, that changed the course of his life. An Italian priest gave a talk at the gathering which had brought together people to discuss ways to find, and live in, peace in the restive Great Lakes region. He was speaking on behalf of the Sant'Egidio community, a movement of both lay people and clergy, committed to social service - and the priest was encouraging the students to embrace a pastoral mission. Fr Tedeschi had barely finished speaking at the auditorium in southern Rwanda's leafy university town of Butare when Kositi approached him. "That speech very much touched Floribert as well as his other friends who had come from Goma," he told the BBC. "He wanted to begin a community of Sant'Egidio in Goma. [He was] a young man full of joy with a wish to be useful to the world, with a wish to change what he saw around him that did not work." Kositi took up his mission - and in particular his efforts focused on helping street children, Fr Tedeschi said. The region around Goma has known decades of conflict and is currently at the centre of a rebellion that has seen a powerful rebel group take over the city and swathes of territory surrounding it. What's the fighting all about? Inside the rebel-held Congolese mine vital to mobile phones Your phone, a rare metal and the war in DR Congo Kositi, "very affected" by the fate of children caught up in successive traumas, set up one of Sant'Egidio's "Schools of Peace" - which offer food and other assistance to get children an education. Today Goma's School of Peace is named in honour of him and has become an actual school. But in the early 2000s, the young undergraduate was often helping street children financially with school fees or food - or assisting them to become self-reliant in a city where almost everyone was struggling. "What struck me," said Fr Tedeschi, "was how Floribert was someone who took the life of others very seriously and more importantly, he would ask himself a lot of questions to understand what the roots of poverty were - the misfortunes of people. "He liked talking, to confront these problems." Kositi's reach went beyond DR Congo's borders. In Kigali, Rwanda's capital, some 100km (60 miles) east of Goma, Bernard Musana Segatagara, a Sant'Egidio fellow, also remembers him. "Changing Africa and building peace was our shared dream as we observed a growing network of friendship. I think living in a region of tension was making our friendship even more special," he told the BBC. After graduating in 2006, Kositi began training as a customs official in the capital, Kinshasa, before taking up a senior post on the border between Rwanda and DR Congo in April 2007. The rice dispute involved a consignment of around four or five tonnes - which he had tested as he was worried about its safety and then ordered that it be destroyed. "At first that pushed the smugglers to try and bribe him, and later to threaten him. And Floribert always refused," Fr Tedeschi said. "He refused based on his Christian principles. At one point he asked a doctor - a nun working in Goma, who was a friend - so he could really understand the dangers this rice would have represented to the civilian population. "And that's what led him to think: 'So me as a Christian, I can neither accept money nor that these people risk dying because of this poisoned food just because of corruption.'" For the priest this is what showed his "loyalty to the gospel, Christian values of love for one's neighbour [and] justice". Lawyer Jean Jacques Bakinahe, who studied with Kositi at the University of Goma and was also one of the leaders of Sant'Egidio in the city, agrees. He told the Rwanda Catholic Church TV channel that his friend "profoundly followed the gospel of peace… [which] really helped him categorically reject that act of corruption". But it ultimately led to his death. "[The smugglers] wanted to send a message… a mafia-style warning," said Fr Tedeschi. He acknowledged it might have scared some customs officials at the time but said it had "not succeeded in making [people] forget these testimonies of love and justice that Floribert gave us". When the late Pope Francis visited DR Congo in February 2023, he spoke to young people at the main stadium in Kinshasa - and urged them to follow Kositi's example. "A young person like yourselves, Floribert Bwana Chui… at only 26 years old, was killed in Goma for having blocked the passage of spoiled foodstuffs that would have been harmful for people's health," he said. "Since he was a Christian, he prayed. He thought of others and he chose to be honest - saying no to the filth of corruption. "If someone offers you a bribe, or promises you favours and lots of money, do not fall into the trap. Do not be deceived! Do not be sucked into the swamp of evil!" he said. His successor, Pope Leo XIV, who presided over the beatification ceremony at the Papal Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls in June, agreed a more promising future lay ahead for DR Congo's young people. "This African martyr, in a continent rich in youths, shows how young people can give rise to peace," the pontiff said. The Christian martyr, who now has the title of "blessed" before his name, was lauded in the basilica full of joyous Congolese faithful waving flags. "May the long-awaited peace in Kivu, in Congo, and across all of Africa come soon - through the intercession of the Virgin Mary and Blessed Floribert," said Pope Leo. If peace were to be delivered to Goma, where two joint peace processes are currently under way, that would indeed be a miracle worthy of a saint - and would give hope to the entire region. You may also be interested in: Your phone, a rare metal and the war in DR Congo WATCH: BBC goes inside rebel-held city of Goma How African popes changed Christianity How does someone become a saint? Africa remembers Pope who spoke for the continent Go to for more news from the African continent. Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica BBC Africa podcasts Focus on Africa This Is Africa
BBC News
3 days ago
- BBC News
Floribert Kositi: DR Congo's would-be saint murdered 'mafia style' for refusing bribes
Two days after he was kidnapped in July 2007, the bloodied and battered corpse of Floribert Bwana Chui Bin Kositi was dumped outside a university campus in the city of Goma, in the east of the Democratic Republic of newly graduated 26-year-old and devout Catholic was just three months into a job as a customs official - which he had taken on with his usual zeal, by refusing to be had stood up to people wanting to smuggle in rice from neighbouring Rwanda that had spoiled and could have proven poisonous if eaten. No-one has ever been arrested for his Francesco Tedeschi, the man campaigning for Kositi to become a Catholic saint, told the BBC his "mafia-style" murder was meant to serve as a warning to anyone else who stood up to corruption - in a part of the world where guns tend to hold sway over the rule of is the capital of North Kivu Province, which is rich in covetable minerals - such as those that power mobile phones - and plentiful in rebel and militia Fr Tedeschi believes the warning completely failed because of Kositi's legacy of love and justice, saying the kindness he had shown through his short life lives on actions, in a place where corruption is the norm, were informed by his had made him strong enough to resist repeated offers by the smugglers. According to the Catholic Sant'Egidio community of which he was a member - Kositi was first offered $1,000 (£750), then $2,000 "and even more", but consistently said no."He had received phone calls and pressure, even from public authorities, to turn a blind eye and take his fee as everyone had always done," the Community of Sant'Egidio year, the Catholic Church declared him a martyr - one of the steps to sainthood - as it felt his death was the result of his unwillingness to sacrifice his Christian values for the Catholic tradition, a saint serves as a model of Christian life and is regarded as a hero of the faith through their exceptional actions of has since been beatified - at a ceremony in Rome last month - meaning that once one miracle has been attributed to him, he will become a far this has been a remarkably fast journey, as canonisation - the process to sainthood - can sometimes take decades or centuries - though this is speeded up if the church decides someone died for their faith. Born in Goma in 1981, Kositi was the eldest of three siblings and eight half-siblings, according to a biography written by Sant'Egidio, which described him as coming from a "well-off family". His father was a bank clerk and his mother a border police officer."Floribert Bwana Chui was an intelligent and eloquent child from birth. He was a polite boy who respected us, his parents. I saw a bright future in him. I was expecting him to be a boy who would get married, have a wife and children," his mother Gertrude Kamara Ntawiha told UN-sponsored Radio Okapi last month before travelling to Rome for her son's beatification - which was also attended by Kositi's two younger the challenges of living in eastern DR Congo, Kositi was always curious about the world, did well at school and went on to study law at was during his studies that he attended a regional student conference in Rwanda, in 2001, that changed the course of his Italian priest gave a talk at the gathering which had brought together people to discuss ways to find, and live in, peace in the restive Great Lakes was speaking on behalf of the Sant'Egidio community, a movement of both lay people and clergy, committed to social service - and the priest was encouraging the students to embrace a pastoral Tedeschi had barely finished speaking at the auditorium in southern Rwanda's leafy university town of Butare when Kositi approached him."That speech very much touched Floribert as well as his other friends who had come from Goma," he told the BBC."He wanted to begin a community of Sant'Egidio in Goma. [He was] a young man full of joy with a wish to be useful to the world, with a wish to change what he saw around him that did not work." Kositi took up his mission - and in particular his efforts focused on helping street children, Fr Tedeschi region around Goma has known decades of conflict and is currently at the centre of a rebellion that has seen a powerful rebel group take over the city and swathes of territory surrounding the fighting all about?Inside the rebel-held Congolese mine vital to mobile phonesYour phone, a rare metal and the war in DR CongoKositi, "very affected" by the fate of children caught up in successive traumas, set up one of Sant'Egidio's "Schools of Peace" - which offer food and other assistance to get children an Goma's School of Peace is named in honour of him and has become an actual in the early 2000s, the young undergraduate was often helping street children financially with school fees or food - or assisting them to become self-reliant in a city where almost everyone was struggling."What struck me," said Fr Tedeschi, "was how Floribert was someone who took the life of others very seriously and more importantly, he would ask himself a lot of questions to understand what the roots of poverty were - the misfortunes of people."He liked talking, to confront these problems."Kositi's reach went beyond DR Congo's borders. In Kigali, Rwanda's capital, some 100km (60 miles) east of Goma, Bernard Musana Segatagara, a Sant'Egidio fellow, also remembers him."Changing Africa and building peace was our shared dream as we observed a growing network of friendship. I think living in a region of tension was making our friendship even more special," he told the graduating in 2006, Kositi began training as a customs official in the capital, Kinshasa, before taking up a senior post on the border between Rwanda and DR Congo in April rice dispute involved a consignment of around four or five tonnes - which he had tested as he was worried about its safety and then ordered that it be destroyed."At first that pushed the smugglers to try and bribe him, and later to threaten him. And Floribert always refused," Fr Tedeschi said."He refused based on his Christian principles. At one point he asked a doctor - a nun working in Goma, who was a friend - so he could really understand the dangers this rice would have represented to the civilian population."And that's what led him to think: 'So me as a Christian, I can neither accept money nor that these people risk dying because of this poisoned food just because of corruption.'" For the priest this is what showed his "loyalty to the gospel, Christian values of love for one's neighbour [and] justice".Lawyer Jean Jacques Bakinahe, who studied with Kositi at the University of Goma and was also one of the leaders of Sant'Egidio in the city, told the Rwanda Catholic Church TV channel that his friend "profoundly followed the gospel of peace… [which] really helped him categorically reject that act of corruption".But it ultimately led to his death."[The smugglers] wanted to send a message… a mafia-style warning," said Fr acknowledged it might have scared some customs officials at the time but said it had "not succeeded in making [people] forget these testimonies of love and justice that Floribert gave us".When the late Pope Francis visited DR Congo in February 2023, he spoke to young people at the main stadium in Kinshasa - and urged them to follow Kositi's example."A young person like yourselves, Floribert Bwana Chui… at only 26 years old, was killed in Goma for having blocked the passage of spoiled foodstuffs that would have been harmful for people's health," he said."Since he was a Christian, he prayed. He thought of others and he chose to be honest - saying no to the filth of corruption."If someone offers you a bribe, or promises you favours and lots of money, do not fall into the trap. Do not be deceived! Do not be sucked into the swamp of evil!" he said. His successor, Pope Leo XIV, who presided over the beatification ceremony at the Papal Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls in June, agreed a more promising future lay ahead for DR Congo's young people."This African martyr, in a continent rich in youths, shows how young people can give rise to peace," the pontiff Christian martyr, who now has the title of "blessed" before his name, was lauded in the basilica full of joyous Congolese faithful waving flags."May the long-awaited peace in Kivu, in Congo, and across all of Africa come soon - through the intercession of the Virgin Mary and Blessed Floribert," said Pope peace were to be delivered to Goma, where two joint peace processes are currently under way, that would indeed be a miracle worthy of a saint - and would give hope to the entire region. You may also be interested in: Your phone, a rare metal and the war in DR CongoWATCH: BBC goes inside rebel-held city of GomaHow African popes changed ChristianityHow does someone become a saint?Africa remembers Pope who spoke for the continent Go to for more news from the African us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica
Toronto Star
08-07-2025
- Toronto Star
Catholics in Congo honor an anti-corruption martyr newly beatified by the Vatican
GOMA, Congo (AP) — The remains of a Congolese customs worker who was killed for resisting a bribe and recently beatified by the Vatican were transferred from a public cemetery to a cathedral in Congo's eastern city of Goma during a special Mass on Tuesday. Hundreds of Catholic faithful gathered at Saint Joseph Cathedral to pay tribute to Floribert Bwana Chui Bin Kositi, who was kidnapped and killed in 2007 by unidentified assailants after he refused to allow rancid rice from neighboring Rwanda to be transported across the border.
CTV News
15-06-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
A Congolese customs worker who resisted corruption is the Catholic Church's newest model of holiness
Aline Minani holds a photo of Floribert Bwana Chui Bin Kositi, a Congolese man killed for fighting corruption in 2007, and whose beatification was approved by Pope Francis, in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, Dec. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa, File) ROME — The Vatican on Sunday is beatifying a Congolese customs worker who was killed for resisting a bribe, giving young people in a place with endemic corruption a new model of holiness: Someone who refused to allow spoiled rice to be distributed to poor people. The head of the Vatican's saint-making office, Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, is presiding over the beatification ceremony Sunday at one of the pontifical basilicas in Rome, St. Paul Outside the Walls. The event is drawing Congolese pilgrims and much of Rome's Congolese Catholic community, who will be treated to a special audience Monday with Pope Leo XIV. Floribèrt Bwana Chui Bin Kositi was kidnapped and killed in 2007 after he refused to allow rancid rice from Rwanda to be transported across the border to the eastern Congo city of Goma. As an official with the Congolese government's custom's quality control office, the 26-year-old knew the risks of resisting bribes offered to public officials. But he also knew the risks of allowing spoiled food to be distributed to the most desperate. 'On that day, those mafiosi found themselves in front of a young man who, in the name of the Gospel, said 'No.' He opposed,' his friend Aline Manani said. 'And Floribèrt, I think that for me personally, I would say for all young people, is a role model.' Pope Francis recognized Kositi as a martyr of the faith late last year, setting him on the path to beatification and to possibly become Congo's first saint. The move fit into the pope's broader understanding of martyr as a social justice concept, allowing those deemed to have been killed for doing God's work and following the Gospel to be considered for sainthood. 'Our country almost holds the gold medal for corruption among the countries of the world,' Goma Bishop Willy Ngumbi told reporters last week. 'Here, corruption is truly endemic. So, if we could at least learn from this boy's life that we must all fight corruption … I think that would be very important.' Transparency International last year gave Congo one of the poorest marks on its corruption perception index, ranking it 163 out of 180 countries surveyed and 20 on the organization's 0-100 scale, with 0 highly corrupt and 100 very clean. The beatification has brought joy to Goma at a time of anguish. Violent fighting between government forces and Rwanda-backed M23 rebels has led to the death of thousands of people and the rebels' capture of the city has exacerbated what already was one of the world's biggest humanitarian crises. It has renewed the hopes of many in the country of more than 100 million people whose development has been stifled by chronic corruption, which Francis railed about during his 2023 visit to the country. Speaking at the Kinshasa stadium then, Francis said Kositi 'could easily have turned a blind eye; nobody would have found out, and he might even have gotten ahead as a result. But since he was a Christian, he prayed. He thought of others and he chose to be honest, saying no to the filth of corruption.' The Italian priest who spearheaded Kositi's sainthood case, the Rev. Francesco Tedeschi, knew him through their work with the Saint'Egidio Community. He broke down Saturday as he recounted Kositi's example and Francis' call for the church to recognize the ordinary holiness in the 'saints next door.' 'In the end, this was what Floribert was, because he was just a boy,' Tedeschi said as he began weeping. At Goma's Floribert Bwana Chui School of Peace, which is named in honor of Kositi and advocates for social justice, his beatification is encouraging everyone who sees him as a role model, school director Charles Kalimba told The Associated Press. 'It's a lesson for every generation, for the next generation, for the present generation and for all people. Floribert's life is a positive point that must be presented to the Congolese nation. We are in a country where corruption is almost allowed, and this is a challenge that must be taken up,' Kalimba said. Rev. Tedeschi said the martyr designation recognized Kositi died out of hatred for the faith, because his decision to not accept the spoiled food was inspired by the Christian idea of the dignity of everyone, especially the poor. Being declared a martyr exempts Kositi from the requirement that a miracle must be attributed to his intercession before he is beatified, thereby fast-tracking the process to get to the first step of sainthood. The Vatican must, however, confirm a miracle attributed to his intercession for him to be canonized, a process that can take years or more. Kambumba contributed from Goma, Congo, and Asadul from Dakar, Senegal. Trisha Thomas contributed from Rome. Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. Nicole Winfield, Justin Kambumba And Chinedu Asadu, The Associated Press
