L’impact de l’économie sur la pastorale du  diocèse d’Idiofa en République Démocratique du Congo : analyse des répercussions sur l’exercice ministériel des prêtres

This thesis relates the impact of the congolese economy on the pastoral diocese of Idiofa, the administration of the diocese and its repercussions on the ministry of the priests. After several years of establishment, the diocese of Idiofa is presently subjected to the consequences of the congolese economic crisis. Its pastoral is sick, broken and even blocked. The lack of money is everywhere, cash reserves are empty, we can neither eat nor celebrate the Eucharist. We are living an almost general de-motivation of priests:  refusal of obedience or contestation of appointments, prolonged stays and studies abroad, absences, ignorance or “mystery of finances”. The people and the priests are poorer than ever. This contrasts with the growing number of priests in the diocese of Idiofa.  At a closer range this growth badly masks an enigma. With the growing poverty a decrease in the number of priests was to be expected.  However this is not the case as we witness an opposite phenomenon in the diocese of Idiofa. Why is this happening?  Social promotion, a search for material comfort?  An increase in vocations?  The problem seems trite, but it is a practical question that leads to a matter of conscience in regards to our actions  and our ecclesiastic identity.  This thesis will help to grasp the stakes and the consequences of the Congolese economy on the ministry of priests and on the population. It will reveal the incapability of our local Church to assume its responsibilities and react realistically to the proper context.  The disparity between its theory and practice is enormous. This thesis aims for a new active and practical local Church that does not refuse to acknowledge the problems facing priests and people in difficult situations. If the actual ecclesial model is in truth elaborated to function with the challenges and aspirations of the diocesan communities, how do we explain that this same Church forgets the economic problems that condition the actual life of the priests and the people?  Can the diocesan community continue to build and grow by neglecting the economic aspect? Despite the actual numerical, liturgical and sacramental vitality of the diocesan Church, serious internal insufficiencies are a cause of its present paralysis and a threat to its uncertain future.  This thesis wants our local Church to be concerned by the economical problems through its pastoral actions. A new pastoral orientation or organization is thus necessary for the subsistence and growth of our Church and its environment. Our thesis consists of seven chapters.  The first depicts a socio- economic portrait of the Democratic Congo Republic with its immense riches and the present political and economic crisis. The second analyzes the disparity between the audacious positions of the Congolese Church in this context and its more conservative clerical and institutional practices. The third describes the pastoral situation of the diocese of Idiofa, from the backward ministry to the diocesan administration through its diverse pastoral sectionals. We expose the diocesan weaknesses and forces. The fourth analyzes the diocesan economic situation in regards to the congolese crisis and its internal diocesan dynamics.  For example we see the emergence of a dependence towards Rome, the tribal financial favoritism, the loss of means of personal diocesan production, the poverty of the clergy, and furthermore of the faithful and the people of the diocese. The fifth chapter re-evaluates the theological progress (theologies of adaptation, waiting stones, enculturation, liberation, contextual and reconstruction) and pastoral practices of the diocese with regard to its actual reality.  The sixth proposes a theological interpretation of the economic crisis in the diocese of Idiofa in virtue of the Gospel, of salvation considered as global salvation concerning the transformation of historical structures, the mission of the Church to announce salvation in word and deed. The seventh and last chapter proposes an analysis of ethic and ecclesial implications. It also presents some pastoral ways susceptible of favoring the self leadership of communities and the stabilization of diocesan finances: pastoral of the attics, dirty hands and garden sharing.  The general conclusion of the thesis recalls strong ideas and proposes solutions.

Keyphrases: Congo, Diocesan economy, Congo, Pastoral, Diocese of Idiofa, Ministry, Priests, Poverty, Shared garden theology, Church, African theology