A Congolese family displaced by the Islamic State-affiliated Allied Democratic Forces is pictured Aug. 31, 2025, in Mangaredjipa near Beni, Congo. (OSV News photo/Gradel Muyisa Mumbere, Reuters) The Congolese ex-president Kabila has gone into hiding and is now facing the death penalty. For the African country’s Catholic bishops, the judgement is a serious mistake that even violates the constitution.
The Catholic bishops in the Democratic Republic of Congo have strongly condemned the death sentence against former President Joseph Kabila. “The death penalty is not compatible with the Gospel and does not promote national cohesion,” reads a statement from the Congolese Bishops’ Conference. They are “shocked by this judgement”, which represents a “step backwards in the protection of life and the values of the Gospel”.
The country’s Supreme Military Court sentenced Kabila to death in absentia on 30 September for high treason. According to the court, the former president, who ruled from 2001 to 2019, is said to be complicit in the rebellion of the M23/ADF movement, which currently controls large parts of the eastern province of North Kivu. Kabila, who left the country in 2023, was last seen in the provincial capital of Goma.
“The death penalty is inhumane”
In their statement, the bishops recalled that they had already protested in March 2024 against the lifting of the moratorium on the execution of the death penalty that had been in place since 2003. This decision by the Ministry of Justice was a “mistake” that now weighs heavily. The moratorium should have “led naturally to the abolition and not to the resumption of this inhumane measure”, the bishops emphasise. The death penalty violates the dignity of man, “who is created in the image of God”, and is also contrary to the Congolese constitution, which guarantees the sanctity of life.
The bishops call for a national dialogue, which must also include Kabila and representatives of the armed groups, in order to end the decades of violence and instability in the east of the country. The aim must be to “restore peace and national cohesion and secure the territorial integrity of the country”, according to the church representatives.