VZCZCXRO7713
OO RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHKI #1351 3441121
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 101121Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY KINSHASA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7219
INFO RUEHXR/RWANDA COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY PRIORITY
RUEHROV/AMEMBASSY VATICAN 0015

UNCLAS KINSHASA 001351 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SOCI PGOV CG
SUBJECT:  VATICAN NAMES CONTROVERSIAL PRELATE TO HEAD ARCHDIOCESE OF 
KINSHASA 
 
REF:  (A) 06 Kinshasa 785; (B) 06 Kinshasa 834; (C) 06 Kinshasa 
 
1746; (D) 06 Kinshasa 1766 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED -- PROTECT ACCORDINGLY 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  The Holy See has named Laurent Monsengwo, 
Archbishop of Kisangani and president of the National Conference of 
Catholic Bishops (CENCO), to become the new Archbishop of Kinshasa. 
He succeeds the late Frederic Cardinal Etsou.  Monsengwo is known 
for keen intelligence, strong political skills and great ambition. 
His talents will be tested as he leads the Congolese Catholic Church 
in a challenging period of reconstruction and competition.  End 
summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) The acting papal nuncio in Kinshasa, the Vatican's 
diplomatic representative in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 
announced December 5 that Archbishop Laurent Monsengwo, currently 
serving as Archbishop of Kisangani, has been named by Pope Benedict 
XVI as Archbishop of Kinshasa.  Monsengwo succeeds Frederic Cardinal 
Etsou, who died in January following a long illness.  He will be 
formally installed in February. 
 
¶3.  (U) Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya was born in October, 1939 in 
Inongo, province of Bandundu.  A Sakata tribesman of the Nsontin 
royal family, he is a nephew of former Prime Minister Joseph Nsinga. 
 His brother is Senator Francois Kaniki, a former CEO of the 
shipping firm AGETRAF.  Monsengwo holds a doctorate in biblical 
exegesis and speaks several languages, including Hebrew.  He was 
ordained in 1963.  He was named auxiliary bishop of Inongo in 1980, 
then of Kisangani from 1981 to 1988.  He became archbishop of 
Kisangani in 1988. 
 
¶4.  (U) From 1976 to 1980 Monsengwo served as secretary general of 
the National Catholic Conference of Bishops (CENCO), and later as 
its president, from 1984 to 1992.  He also headed the Consortium of 
Bishops' Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SCEAM) for six years. 
 Monsengwo is again president of CENCO and, since May 2007, heads 
Pax Christi International, a Brussels-based international Roman 
Catholic NGO that supports projects throughout the world that 
promote peace and understanding. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Monsengwo gained popularity in the early 1990's for a 
letter he wrote denouncing Mobutu's rule.  He was elected president 
of the 1991-1992 National Sovereign Conference which, many Congolese 
hoped, would lead the country from the Mobutu dictatorship to 
democratic rule.  Frequent visits with Mobutu at his home in 
Gbadolite, however, raised questions about Monsengwo's real 
political loyalties.  Later, during the pre-electoral period in 
2006, his calls for all candidates to affirm their support for 
pre-election power-sharing "negotiations" were widely seen as moves 
to support Jean-Pierre Bemba's political ambitions (refs A, B). 
Some reports allege that he acted behind the scenes on behalf of 
Bemba's candidacy.  There are also reports that Monsengwo was behind 
Cardinal Etsou's controversial statements in 2006 questioning the 
legitimacy of Kabila's election (refs C, D). 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Comment:  Many believe Monsengwo has had the Kinshasa see 
in his sites for many years.  Like his two predecessors, he should 
eventually be named cardinal, although precedent indicates that 
getting the scarlet beret requires at least tacit approval from 
President Kabila.  The fact that an older prelate was chosen 
(Monsengwo is in his late sixties) as de facto leader of the Congo's 
estimated 30 million-plus Catholics (although technically the 
archbishop of Kinshasa only, his proximity to the national power 
center gives him the potential to the most influential churchman 
throughout the country) suggests that Rome has opted for a 
well-known quantity at a time of both great opportunity and great 
peril for the Congolese Church.  Monsengwo's intellect, energy, 
determination and ambition will be put to the test as he works to 
rebuild the Church after the country's long winter of civil and 
regional wars, and to confront the growing challenge posed by 
foreign Protestant and home-grown Congolese Christian movements. 
His political skills will also be tested, as he maneuvers to rebuild 
bridges to a president he reportedly opposed prior to the 2006 
elections.  Alternatively, he could leverage his reputation as an 
anti-Kabila activist to win support from those discontented with 
Kabila and his governing coalition.  End comment. 
 
GARVELINK