Modern-day Martyrs: The victims of blood minerals in Africa
Paul Samasumo – Vatican City
This year, the Church celebrates the 60th anniversary of the canonization of the Uganda Martyrs. They were canonized by Pope Paul VI on 18 October 1964 in St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome.
The paradox of abundance and poverty
Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo and President of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM), has delivered a damning reflection on the exploitation of ‘blood minerals’ in Africa, which he said has led to the deaths of millions of people, displacement, human rights violations, wars and endemic poverty.
Speaking about the experience of his country, Cardinal Ambongo said the Democratic Republic of Congo was a glaring example of exploitation. Notwithstanding the abundance of mineral resources, the poverty experienced by the Congolese people was appalling.
The Cardinal quoted a statement previously made by the Congolese Bishops: “Instead of contributing to the development of our country and benefiting our people, minerals, oil, and forests have become the causes of our misfortune. How can we understand that our fellow citizens are stripped of their land without compensation because of the areas granted or sold to this or that mining or forestry operator?”
Lifting the veil of suffering communities
The Cardinal President of SECAM made the remarks at a Conference held in Rome and Online. He lifted the veil on the numerous and challenging situations experienced by ordinary villagers at the mercy of armed gangs, mercenaries, and faceless Multinational mining corporations bent on extracting minerals regardless of the cost to human life.
The Conference under the theme, “The Blood of the Holy Martyrs, Seeds of Hope for an Integral Ecology”, was organised as an initiative of the Congregation of the Missionaries of Africa, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the canonization of the Holy Martyrs of Uganda.
“Many people suffer and die because of the exploitation of mineral resources in Africa. The extraction and transportation of these minerals dispossess and displace families from their lands. There is often violent demolition of homes, water contamination, air pollution with heavy metals, cyanide released into nature, and serious damage to agricultural, livestock or fishing yields,” the Cardinal narrated.
Powering smartphones and electric vehicle batteries
The Cardinal further narrated how blood minerals such as those that power the world’s smartphones and the batteries of electric vehicles leave a trail of death and destruction, creating a sense of generalised chaos that, in turn, feeds into a vicious circle of perpetual lawlessness.
“The death toll from the exploitation of blood minerals is very heavy in Africa. In reality, the exploitation of critical minerals (tin, tantalum, gold, tungsten, etc.) and minerals of the energy transition (lithium, nickel, cobalt, etc.) gives rise to armed conflicts in several African regions. These minerals are present in batteries of electric vehicles, smartphones, laptops, etc. Indeed, under the instigation of Multinationals, armed groups locked in a vicious circle of financial logic are fighting in several African regions. The wars allow the control of the different mines; simultaneously, the sale of minerals is used to finance more wars. This export increases the risk of war because it supports the financing of armed groups, increases the corruption of administration (officials), feeds secessionist sentiment of the populations who feel abandoned and makes the indigenous population vulnerable. All this mechanism aims to create generalised chaos which especially prevents the development in areas concerned,” the Cardinal outlined in detail.
Lessons Learned from the Martyrs of Uganda
60 years after the canonization of Saint Charles Lwanga and his companions, Cardinal Ambongo also spoke of lessons learned or “what are the fruits of the testimony of these valiant martyrs of Uganda in today’s Africa?”
In the face of atrocities, the Cardinal Archbishop of Kinshasa echoed Pope Francis’ document Evangelii Gaudium, which calls for Christian communities of missionary disciples who are permanently on mission (an outbound or outgoing Church). The Cardinal further said the Church in Africa could not afford to be silent in the face of the illegal exploitation of mineral resources on the Continent. He alluded to Pope Francis’s Hands Off Africa Addresses made on his Apostolic Journey to the Democratic Republic of Congo in January 2023.
The Congolese prelate commended Christians and non-Christians, men and women, lay people and consecrated persons who have refused to fold their hands in the face of the tragedies unfolding in Africa’s troubled regions.
Many of these men and women “at the risk of their lives, and in the name of Christian and human values, denounce these situations, fight for social justice, peace, human dignity and the safeguarding of our common home. Many lose their lives, and the earth continues to water the blood of these modern martyrs,” he said.
Cardinal Ambongo reiterated that an outbound or outgoing African Church will act like the Good Samaritan —always at the side of the marginalised and those abandoned by the side of the road. Referring to hope, Christian hope, he said, is something quite different from illusory hope.
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