DR Congo: Joy in Goma as local man beatified by Pope Leo XIV

Catholics from Goma and relatives of a Congolese customs worker on Sunday watched with pride the beatification of their compatriot by Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican in Rome.

Floribèrt Bwana Chui Bin Kositi was kidnapped and killed in 2007 after he refused to accept a bribe and allow rancid rice from Rwanda to be transported across the border.

His relative, Justine Kanyere Kavuo, who watched the televised event at home, said his beatification sent a strong message about justice, honesty, and integrity.

“It's a joyful feeling to be able to follow this ceremony live. We don't know how to express it. We're happy because today, the universal church recognised him as a martyr of honesty and justice," Kavuo said.

As an official with the Congolese government’s custom’s quality control office, the 26-year-old knew the risks of resisting bribes offered to public officials.

But he also knew the risks of allowing the spoiled food to be distributed to the most desperate.

The late Pope Francis recognised Kositi as a martyr of the faith last year, setting him on the path to beatification and to possibly become Congo's first saint.

The local church diocese put up giant posters in the streets of Goma to remind the city's population of the beatification event.

On Sunday, the Catholic Church in Goma celebrated him with prayer sessions organised in his memory.

"The fact that he was picked up in our diocese, for me is a sign that the Lord is inviting us to be apostles of honesty and moral integrity, especially in matters of financial management," said Célestin Kanyabiriri, head of the local organising committee for Kositi’s beatification.

In front of the church, Catholics bought commemorative cloths bearing the image of Kositi, who is now celebrated as a national hero.

Catholic Church faithful, Olive Njemba, said she was happy to buy the cloth in celebration of Kositi.

“Those who killed him thought they had ended his life, but God Almighty raised him up, and that is our joy,” she said.