Belgian Augustinians arrived in 1952, and German Augustinians in 1959, such that in 1960 there were 22 Augustinian priests and lay brothers ministering in the Congo who came from Europe, a number that had reduced to four in 2003.
Local Congolese are now joining the Augustinian Order, where the infrastructure damaged by war calls the Christian minister at the same time also to be social workers, village developers, AIDS helper and the lawyers of the poor people.
On 28th August 2003 five Congolese Augustinians were ordained to the priesthood at Poko, northeast Congo: Martin Banga Anyanyako, Laurent Likito Dazangakpio, Andre Bangama Lokango, Bernard Alinye and Dominik Juma Habakkuk (a Sudanese).
The priestly ordination of Charles Ilotane O.S.A. took place on the feast of St. Augustine (28th August 2005) at Dungu, in the Eastern Province of Congo.
Charles was the last Augustinian student of theology at Kinshasa; all the others are in Nairobi. He has been appointed to Dungu to strengthen the community there, where he is Prefect of the Junior seminary.
Pain
Many missions all over the world have had periods of difficulty and tragedy visit them, but of the Democratic Republic of the Congo have faced many years of danger and destruction.
The Congo, centrally located on the African continent, has been called "the bleeding heart of Africa" because of its decades of civil war.
In area, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is almost seven times as large as Germany, and a quarter of the size of Australia and the mainland of the United States of America.
Its population in 2002 was over 55,000,000. About 48% of the population are aged under fifteen years.
About 50% of the population is Catholic, and 10% Moslem.
(Continued on the next page.)
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