Your Holiness,
It is to Your Holiness that we address ourselves, for you are our last resort and source of hope.
We are ordinary women united in defense of an extraordinary cause that merits your attention—the recognition of every human being as a person deserving of full respect and dignity. We are members of the International Women’s Network for Democracy and Peace (IwnDP), with headquarters in Belgium and branches in the Netherlands, France, and Canada. Our organization pays special attention to the African Great Lakes region.
Today, we call upon Your Holiness regarding the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). As we write, a tragedy is unfolding—one that spares no one, but most profoundly devastates the most vulnerable: women, children, and youth.
For more than thirty years, Congolese women have seen their bodies weaponized in conflict. Their suffering is unspeakable. Only Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dr. Denis Mukwege has managed to give their plight a voice in the international community. Yet despite his tireless advocacy, these women continue to live without relief. In fact, the situation has only deteriorated since 1996.
The atrocities have been well-documented, particularly in the United Nations Mapping Report. Your predecessor, Pope Francis, was made aware of these realities. During his visit to Kinshasa, he courageously declared: « Take your hands off Africa! »
He condemned the ongoing “economic colonialism” that ravages nations such as the DRC—an immensely rich country plagued by endemic violence. He stated: « Stop suffocating Africa: it is not a mine to be exploited or a land to be looted. » His words were met with heartfelt applause in a nation where two-thirds of the nearly 100 million citizens live on less than $2.15 a day, despite the country’s abundant natural and agricultural wealth.
Your Holiness,
The humiliation has lasted long enough. The trauma has lasted long enough. Destitution has lasted long enough. Even humanitarian aid has become a tool of coercion, a form of control by the strong over the weak.
How can we, in a world filled with wealth, tolerate the existence of people without food, shelter, or clothing? How can we accept, in a world that calls itself civilized, that the rape of women has become normalized in the DRC conflict?
How can it be that criminals triumph over reason? There is no justification—only the selfishness of the powerful and the megalomania of those who seek to seize every gem of the earth by stripping others of their vital subsistence. To rob a people of their ability to care for themselves and then appear as their savior is a defining disease of this century. It is a deliberate act of humiliation and dehumanization.
We think of the people of Africa, and others elsewhere in the world, who suffer in similar silence.
Your Holiness Leo XIV,
In your speech on Wednesday, May 14, 2025, you offered Vatican mediation to help silence weapons and urged world leaders to engage in dialogue. You proclaimed: « The Saint-Siège is available for enemies to meet and look each other in the eye, so that peoples may
recover the hope and dignity that are theirs—the dignity of peace.”
You further promised: « I will do everything in my power to spread peace. »
« People want peace, and with my hand on my heart, I say to the leaders of nations: let us meet, dialogue, and negotiate! War is never inevitable. Weapons can and must be silenced—for they do not solve problems; they aggravate them. »
Your words resonate powerfully in the hearts of Congolese women. And if there is any place where Catholicism thrives in great numbers, it is in the DR Congo.
Quoting the Beatitude « Blessed are the peacemakers », you urged a different kind of communication—one that avoids aggression and competition, and that always seeks truth with humility and love. Let us not forget that in this conflict, many journalists have been silenced, imprisoned, or even assassinated .
You rightly reminded us that:
« The suffering of these imprisoned journalists challenges the conscience of nations and the international community. It calls us all to protect the precious gift of freedom of expression and press. »
« Let us disarm communication of all prejudice, resentment, fanaticism, and hatred. Let us purify it of all aggression. We need not loud or violent communication, but communication capable of listening, of capturing the voices of the voiceless. Let us disarm our words, and thereby help disarm the world. »
You also affirmed:
« Disarmed and disarming communication allows us to share a different vision of the world, and to act consistently with our human dignity. »
You concluded with a call to:
« Choose, consciously and courageously, the path of communication for peace. »
Your Holiness,
It is with peaceful resolve that we turn our eyes toward you. We await the day when the gates of the Vatican will open to welcome the dehumanized and humiliated women of eastern DRC, who will walk the red carpet usually rolled out for the powerful of this world. That day will be a gesture to the world that these women are also important and powerful in your eyes. Their only request will be a blessing from Your Holiness.
We pray that you receive our plea with compassion.
Done in Brussels on July 23rd, 2025.
On the behalf of the Members of the International Women’s Network for Democracy and Peace
Gloria UWISHEMA / IwnDP in The Netherlands
Marie-Louise GAKWAYA / IwnDP in Belgium
Chantal GAUDIOT / IwnDP in France
Perpétue MURAMUTSE / IwnDP in Canada.
Contact : international@rifdp-iwndp.org
Copied to :
His Excellency Félix Tshisekedi, President of the DRC
His Excellency Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda
His Excellency Evariste Ndayishimiye, President of the Republic of Burundi
His Excellency Donald Trump, President of the USA
His Excellency Emmanuel Macron, President of the Republic of France
Her Excellency Ms Ursula von der Leyen, President of EU Commission
Dr Denis Mukwege, Nobel Prize Laureate
Ms Tatiana Mukanire, Coordinator of « Mouvement national des survivantes de violences sexuelles en RD Congo »
His Excellency Mark Carney, Canadian Prime Minister His Excellency Bart De Wever, Belgian Prime Minister His Excellency Dick Schoof, Netherlands’ Prime Minister.
People supporting this appeal :
Mr Joan Carrero
Mr Hervé Cheuzeville
Colonel Luc Marchal
Mr Déo Namujimbo
Mr Jooneed Khan
Ms Anneke Verbracken
Ms Ann Garrison
Mr David Jacobs
Mr John Philpot
Mr Robin Philpot
Ms Roxanne Gendron
Mr Charles Onana
Abbé Jean Pierre Mbelu
Mr Fred Winther Holt
Mr Chris De Beule
Ms Martine Syoen
Ms Judi Rever
Mr Phil Taylor
Mr Patrick Mbeko
Ms Nicole Ndongala Nzoiwidi
Mr Abraham Kiplangat Mutai
Source: IwnDP
Pope Francis meets with victims of violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Vatican News, 02.01.2023)