Beatification of Floribert Bwana Chui bin Kositi, Young Catholic Killed in 2007 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

On Sunday, June 15, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, the universal Church, and in particular the Church of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, celebrated in Rome the beatification of young Congolese layman Floribert Bwana Chui bin Kositi, recognized by Pope Francis in November 2024 as a “martyr of honesty and moral integrity.”

The celebration took place at 5:30 p.m. in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, presided over by Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, with the participation of Cardinal Ambongo and numerous bishops and priests from around the world.

Floribert, an official of the Congolese Office of Control (OCC), was responsible for verifying the compliance of goods at the eastern border of the country. On July 7, 2007, he was kidnapped and, two days later, found dead in Goma. He was 26 years old. He refused to accept bribes to allow unauthorized food products into the country, choosing to die rather than risk public health. His fidelity to God and to his conscience led him to martyrdom.

Floribert was a committed member of the Community of Sant’Egidio, where he lived deeply the pillars of that spirituality: prayer, love for the poor, and work for peace. The poor held a central place in his life. Blessed Floribert cultivated a close and dedicated relationship with street children, persecuted by war as far as Goma, despised, and orphaned. He loved them with the charity of Christ: he took a sincere interest in them and cared for both their human development and their Christian formation.

Blessed Floribert is today a model of integrity for young people in Congo and around the world, in a context where corruption remains a persistent threat. May he intercede for peace in Kivu, in the DRC, and throughout Africa.