TO BRING lasting peace to the Democratic Republic of Congo, earnings from the country’s rich mineral deposits must be shared, particularly through state funding of education and health care, Pope Benedict XVI has told the country’s new ambassador to the Holy See.
“If the earnings were shared justly, the important natural riches that God has given to your land – and which, unfortunately, have become sources of greed and disproportionate profits for many inside and outside your country – would go a long way toward helping the population out of poverty,” the Pope said. “Congolese families and education for young people would be the first beneficiaries,” he told Ambassador Jean-Pierre Hamuli Mupenda.
He said lasting peace and prosperity would remain only a dream for most Congolese unless the government increased its subsidies to the nation’s schools.