Cardinal Ambongo Humiliated at Kinshasa Airport Amidst Criticism of Government

One of the Pope's main collaborators, a member of the C9, Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo from Congo, was deliberately humiliated by airport authorities at Kinshasa airport while ready to depart for Rome. He was physically prevented from accessing the VIP lounge while waiting for his flight. Just a week earlier, the Cardinal had strongly denounced the "true cause of the lack of peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo" as "poor governance, the absence of participatory leadership, and the poor distribution of the country's wealth". For some time, the Capuchin friar has preached against corruption at various levels of politics. The very uncomfortable words spoken at Easter evidently caused a first demonstrative effect, inflicting public humiliation on the Cardinal. After checking in, Fridolin was blatantly diverted by the airport authorities to the general waiting room, barring him from the lounge for authorities, something that had never happened before, causing an unprecedented uproar. The incident has been deemed very worrying by the Church of Kinshasa, which, in a press release, condemned "the degrading treatment that the official airport services reserved for the Cardinal". Ambongo, like all Cardinals, also holds a diplomatic passport. "Why exactly today have they denied him this status that has always been recognized for all Cardinals, even internationally?" reads the press release. "It would be a sin if this treatment followed his prophetic stances, in particular his Easter night homily in which he challenges all those involved, in some way, in the crisis afflicting our country". Various opposition politicians have reacted by highlighting that no one can prevent the Church or its member from denouncing the evils that plague Congo. This morning, Cardinal Ambongo was present at the C9 meeting with Pope Francis. The eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo, in Kivu, is experiencing an endless crisis. The ongoing war has so far caused several million deaths in almost three decades and more than 6 million displaced people. Recently, the activity of a terrorist movement indirectly supported by the Rwandan government has contributed to exacerbating the humanitarian situation. The Archbishop of Kinshasa, Ambongo, at Easter denounced with particular force the voracity of multinationals that plunder Congo of its resources and the expansionist will of Rwanda, notwithstanding the very high rate of internal corruption that favors total instability, humanitarian crisis, and endemic poverty. The Cardinal pointed the finger at poor governance: "This means that for peace to reign in our country, it must first sprout in the heart of every Congolese," he said, adding that the "poor" distribution of wealth is plain for all to see and that the operating expenses of institutions and ministries consume more than 70% of the budget. "Here's the problem of Congo: 70% of the budget is used only for the maintenance of the political class, the remaining 30% is for the 80 million Congolese. The State no longer has the means of its policy to provide services to the population (...) The poorest country and yet these deputies are considered the highest paid in the world," highlighted Fridolin, whose episcopal motto is "all to all".