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At the LAI steering committee that followed the Congress, the National President of Vie Montante in the Democratic Republic of Congo presented his testimony to us. Here are some excerpts.

 

My name is Barthélémy MOPITI UNKENDE, I was born in 1930. I am The National President of Vie Montante in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), of which I have been a member since 2000. I thank Our Lord for having given me the grace to allow me to be with you today in Rome. I sincerely thank the President of LAI who, by inviting me, had put me in touch with CENCO (National Episcopal Conference of the Bishops of Congo); it’s this link that allowed me to get a visa. I also thank you, all of you here, members of the Steering Committee, who see me for the first time in this forum of the movement.

I would like to say that before the Congress, each leader had his own conception to lead his movement, but after the Congress, all our movements must adhere to what has been said, the Church being the cornerstone.  The Church has just conveyed to us a message from the Vatican: let us enter into this dynamic of the new pastoral care of the Elderly.

Having read LAI’s bulletin N° 79 and the contents of the last two newsletters, we would like to underline that abandonment, rejection, neglect, and difficulties of all kinds for older adults are to be blamed on the lack of government charges.  We look forward to the implementation of Congress resolutions.

I would like to tell you how the Vie Montante movement arrived in the DRC and its first difficulties, before telling you about the creation of the FENAPA, followed by our attempt to set up in Brazzaville (Republic of the Congo) before ending with the day of October 1st.

 

Birth of Vie Montante in RDC

This international Catholic movement was established in Kinshasa thanks to Claude NSIMBA, our first National President who had spent a time in France and had been tasked with learning about it. On February 5, 1985, during a Mass of Thanksgiving, Cardinal Fréderic ETSAOU officially installed Vie Montante in our country. The movement experienced difficulties for a few years which led many members to leave the movement.

 

Creation of the FENAPA

If the elderly are abandoned, neglected, humiliated, abused, marginalized, it is because they are not taken care of by the public authorities. Vie Montante, submitted a petition to parliamentarians, demanding certain rights, but this petition had no follow-up.

Article 49 of the country's Constitution states that: "Persons of the 3rd age and persons living with a disability are entitled to specific protection measures." An organic law sets out how this right will be applied.

Based on this law, we created our Asbl, entitled: FENAPA, National Federation of Persons of the 3rd age, that we call eldest daughter of Vie Montante. To date, thanks to this Asbl, our bill is following its normal course at the level of the Congolese Parliament. People who do not belong to Vie Montante are in the FENAPA. Our approach in this direction was encouraged by the CENCO  "National Episcopal Conference of Bishops of Congo"  and the VAI Executive Committee has been informed. This law, once passed and enacted, will allow the elderly and people living with a disability in the DRC today and in the future to sing Hosana.

The FENAPA Asbl supports us in material actions and Vie Montante spiritually supports us.

Vie Montante in Brazzaville.

The Executive Committee of LAI, through the continental coordinator who represented both English-speaking and French-speaking countries, instructed us to carry out awareness-raising missions with neighboring countries, where Vie Montante was already operating and to establish it where it did not yet exist. We targeted Brazzaville in the first place, closer geographically. Twice I found myself on the other side of the Congo River. The Archbishop of Brazzaville, on my second crossing welcomed me and gave orders to those around him to interest future members and to communicate to me when the time comes, the date of a new crossing for the concretization of the action. Since then, despite my repeated calls, this date has never been communicated to me.

The Days of June 15 andOctober 1 of each year.

The United Nations General Assembly with resolutions 66/127 and 45/106 dedicated two dates to the elderly. June 15, an awareness day against elder abuse, and October 1st, a day of rejoicing. Since the creation of FENAPA, we have commemorated these two days every year.

The communication received from LAI's Executive Committee for 1 October only strengthened our timetable. We communicated the program to the CENCO, and I could talk about it on Catholic Radio. We hope that the priests, in the future, during the Masses of 1 October and even 15 June, will echo these dates in their homilies. We ask the Director of the Dicastery of the Laity, Family and Life, through the Executive Committee of VMI, to interest other religious denominations in the context of ecumenism.

 

Our projects for the future

For the future of our movement, we are seeking the intervention of the LAI Executive Committee to find partners who could help us develop activities for the elderly. These partners would work under the supervision of the CENCO (Caritas Congo). We are submitting, under cover of the VAI Executive Committee, a letter addressed to the Director of the Dicastery about this process.

Improving the conditions of the elderly will allow them to be active in the Church and in society. We ask all of you here in this room to pray very much for your elderly brothers and sisters living in the east of our country who, because of the political climate, are going through difficult times that can lead to death.

 

For VM/DRC

Barthélémy MOPITI UNKENDE

National President

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