The testimony of Leon Botolo Magoza, Congolese member of the Pontifical Council for the Family
The spouses Leon Botolo Magoza and Marie Valentine, from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, are also among the members of the Pontifical Council for the Family. They are the founders of the Community of the Christian Family, which associates more than ten thousand families in Africa and, among the European countries, in Italy and Belgium (Brussels).
«We don’t have speculative or doctrinal problems, but practical ones, with regard to witnessing to the Gospel in concrete proximity and helping many people in need. There is so much promiscuity in our Country, and families are disoriented. Above all, there is wide-spread poverty, even on a human level», Leon Botolo Magoza says. The most serious emergency, in Africa, is constituted by the street children. «The street children represent a huge problem, from the moral, social and pastoral viewpoint; these children often rejected by their families, because the economic conditions are insufficient for supporting them. And today, we have actually come to the second generation street children, who are the children of street children». These are people without an identity, without a formed personality, who lack a system of ethics or reference figures and guides, and they are victims of exploitation and abuse. And among them, there are also recruited soldiers whom become the small sacrifice in local wars. «This is a missionary and pastoral priority: people who have to build an identity from scratch, who need basic education, values in which to believe, and love. The Church must be their family, their mother, father and sister».