Beatified Congolese martyr highlights ‘precious witness of laity, youth’ Pope Leo says

Scenes from the beatification of Floribert Bwana Chui Bin Kositi, a Congolese martyr, in Rome on Sunday, June 15, 2025. In a Monday, June 16, audience with pilgrims from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), who traveled for the beatification of Bwana Chui at the Papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside-the-Walls, the Holy Father said: “This Congolese layman highlights the precious witness of the laity and young people.” / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Africa, Jun 18, 2025 / 11:57 am (CNA).

Floribert Bwana Chui Bin Kositi, a Congolese martyr beatified in Rome on Sunday, June 15, provides a powerful testament to the invaluable witness of the laity and youth, Pope Leo XIV said.

In his Monday, June 16, audience with pilgrims from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), who traveled to participate in the beatification of Bwana Chui at the Papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, the Holy Father said: “This Congolese layman highlights the precious witness of the laity and young people.”

“This African martyr, in a continent rich in youths, shows how young people can be leaven for peace — peace that is unarmed and disarming,” Pope Leo said about Bwana Chui, who had turned 26 in June 2007 and was murdered the following month.

The pope added: “May the long-awaited peace in Kivu, in Congo, and across all of Africa come soon — through the intercession of the Virgin Mary and Blessed Floribert.”

On Nov. 15, 2024, the late Pope Francis recognized the martyrdom of Bwana Chui and authorized the Vatican Dicastery for the Causes of Saints to publish the decree announcing his beatification. 

Born on June 13, 1981, in the city of Goma, Floribert Bwana Chui was abducted and martyred in the same Congolese city on July 8, 2007, for standing up against corruption. 

Bwana Chui hailed from a wealthy family and studied law and economics. As a student, he joined the Community of Sant’Egidio, the Rome-based lay Catholic association dedicated to the provision of social services and arbitrating conflicts. He volunteered to reach out to street children.

He started his professional life in DRC’s capital city, Kinshasa, as a claims officer at the customs and goods control agency, the Congolese Control Office. His duty was to evaluate products crossing the DRC eastern border.

In this capacity, Bwana Chui had to wrestle with a moral dilemma, that of allowing contaminated food imported from neighboring Rwanda and without proper documentation and authorization for sale entry into DRC. He chose to speak up.

In his June 16 address to the Congolese pilgrims at the Vatican, Pope Leo lauded Blessed Bwana Chui’s unwavering stance against corruption, emphasizing that such moral courage is rooted in a life grounded in prayer.

“Where did such a young man find the strength to resist corruption, so deeply rooted in the current mentality and capable of unleashing violence?” the pope asked.

Blessed Bwana Chui’s “decision to keep his hands clean — as a customs officer — was shaped by a conscience formed through prayer, listening to the word of God, and communion with his brothers and sisters,” the pontiff said.

“He lived the spirituality of the Community of Sant’Egidio, which Pope Francis summarized with three ‘Ps’: prayer, the poor, and peace,” Pope Leo said and went on to remember the Congolese martyr for his dedication to the poor, saying: “The poor were central in his life. Blessed Floribert had a committed relationship with street children, driven to Goma by war, disdained and orphaned.”

“He loved them with the charity of Christ; he cared for them and was concerned about their human and Christian formation,” the Holy Father said. “Floribert’s strength grew from his faithfulness to prayer and to the poor.” 

Blessed Bwana Chui was a man of peace, the Holy Father further said, and explained: “In a region as afflicted as Kivu, torn by violence, he waged his battle for peace with gentleness — serving the poor, fostering friendship and encounter in a fractured society.”

“This young man, not resigned to evil, had a dream — nourished by the words of the Gospel and closeness to the Lord,” the pope said. “Many young people felt abandoned and hopeless, but Floribert listened to Jesus’ words: ‘I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you’ (Jn 14:18).”

Testimonies about Bwana Chui have indicated that he “preferred to die rather than allow through food that could harm many people.”

People who knew him say he refused to be bribed and reportedly went on to destroy the expired rice. For his honesty and moral integrity, he was abducted and then murdered, according to witnesses, who recalled that he was fond of saying: “Money will disappear quickly. And what about those who would have consumed these products?”

The remains of Bwana Chui will be transferred from the Kanyamuhanga cemetery to a place where pilgrims can access them with ease. “This step will be followed by a procession and then Mass at Goma Cathedral Parish,” Bishop Willy Ngumbi Ngengele said during a June 9 press conference. 

The June 15 beatification of Bwana Chui made him the fourth blessed in the DRC after Sister Marie-Clémentine Anuarite Nengapeta from the Diocese of Wamba, layman Isidore Bakanja from the Mbandaka-Bikoro Archdiocese, and Father Albert Joubert from the Diocese of Uvira, who was beatified in August 2024 alongside three Xaverian missionaries in eastern DRC.

This story was first published by ACI Africa, CNA's news partner in Africa, and has been adapted by CNA.