Africa-Press – Mauritius. On the last Sunday before the conclave to choose the next pope begins on 7 May, the cardinal electors spread out across Rome to preside over Mass at their titular churches.
Among them was Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, who celebrated Mass at San Gabriele Arcangelo all’Acqua Traversa, in an affluent neighbourhood of the Italian capital.
Ambongo became Archbishop of Kinshasa in 2018. A year later, Pope Francis appointed him cardinal.
He has since become one of the most outspoken Catholic leaders in Africa. He became the president of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar in 2023.
The 65-year-old cardinal also benefits from operating in a country that is home to the largest Catholic population in the continent.
Ambongo is known to be a strong advocate for democracy and social justice. He has also supported peace initiatives regarding the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
But in Rome this weekend, he was fully dedicated to the election of the future pope. “When we are there for the conclave, we are not dealing with the case of this continent, that country, no. I am not here for Congo, I am not here for Africa, I am here for the universal Church”, he told journalists after the Sunday Mass.
“When we are done, I will return to Kinshasa and I will put back on my Archbishop of Kinshasa hat and the struggle will continue.”
Ambongo’s influence goes beyond the African continent. He was close to Francis, who made him part of a group of advisers appointed to help reorganise the Vatican bureaucracy.
When asked if he might have to stay in Rome if he is elected pope, he laughingly answered: “And why not? Because that is how it is, any Catholic can become pope.”
Ambongo is known to be conservative and he still diverged with the late pope on several issues. In 2024, he signed a statement on behalf of the bishops conferences of Africa and Madagascar refusing to follow Francis’ declaration allowing priests to offer blessings to same-sex couples, in what amounted to continent-wide dissent from a papal teaching.
In Congo, his harsh criticism of the government’s corruption and inaction has drawn both public admiration and legal scrutiny.
Last year, prosecutors ordered a judicial investigation for “seditious behaviour” over his criticism of the government’s handling of the conflict in eastern Congo.
In the meantime, Ambongo remains a potential candidate to the papacy. The 135 cardinal electors will gather in the seclusion of the Sistine Chapel to elect the next pope starting from 7 May. It will be a first for Ambongo.
“I am going to discover [how it goes] and then it is the work of the Holy Spirit”, he said.
“I don’t know if He will be so good as to give us straight from the start a pope, this depends on the Holy Spirit. But we are hoping it won’t go on too long as it did in the past, in medieval times, when they had to block the Cardinals.”
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