Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya is a Congolese prelate of the Catholic Church. He was the Archbishop of Kinshasa from 2007 to 2018. He became a cardinal in 2010. He is widely recognized as a champion of peace, dialogue and human rights.
Early years
Monsengwo Pasinya was born in Mongobele, Diocese of Inongo. He belongs to one of the royal families of Basakata; his second name, Monsengwo, means "nephew of the traditional chief". He did his initial ecclesiastical studies at the Seminary of Bokoro and furthered them at the Major Seminary of Kabwe. where he studied philosophy. He was sent to Rome to attend the Pontifical Urbaniana University, and the Pontifical Biblical Institute. He also studied at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Jerusalem, where he was awarded a doctorate in biblical studies. He is the first African to obtain such a doctorate. He studied there under Father Carlo Maria Martini, S.J.. He was ordained to the priesthood on 21 December 1963 in Rome. After his ordination he did pastoral work and served as a faculty member at the Theological Faculty of Kinshasa for several years. He served as secretary-general of the Congolese Episcopal Conference from 1976 to 1980.
Episcopate
appointed him Titular Bishop of Acque Nuove di Proconsulare and Auxiliary Bishop of Kisangani on 13 February 1980. He was consecrated on 4 May 1980 in Kinshasa by Pope John Paul II, assisted by Agnelo Rossi, Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, and Albert-Joseph Malula, Archbishop of Kinshasa. He served as president of the Congolese Episcopal Conference in 1980 and again in 1992. He was appointed Metropoliltan Archbishop of Kisangani on 1 September 1988. When dictator Mobutu Sese Seko was losing his grip on power in the mid-1990s, the country needed someone of unimpeachable integrity to engineer the transition. Monsengwo Pasinya was appointed president of the Sovereign National Conference in 1991, president of the High Council of the Republic in 1992, and speaker of a Transitional Parliament in 1994. He was transferred to the metropolitan see of Kinshasa by Pope Benedict on 6 December 2007 after the death of Cardinal Frédéric Etsou-Nzabi-Bamungwabi in January 2007. He served as Co-President of Pax Christi International from 2007 to 2010. He had participated in the Synod of Bishops on several occasions. John Paul named him a member of the 2001 Synod. Pope Benedict XVI named him special secretary for the Synod of Bishops held in October 2008, and delegate-president for that of 2012. Pope Francis named him a papal delegate to the Synod of 2015 on the family in the Church and the modern world. In October 2009, addressing the Synod of Bishops' special assembly for Africa, he said: Pope John Paul named him a member of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace on 22 April 2002. On 20 November 2010 Pope Benedict made him Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria Regina Pacis in Ostia mare. On 11 December 2010, Benedict named him a member of the Congregation for Catholic Education, on 29 December 2010 of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, on 10 December 2011 of the Pontifical Council for Culture, on 29 December 2011 of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, and on 5 March 2012 of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. In December 2011 Monsengwo Pasinya contradicted Kabila when he assessed the 2011 election in the Congo by saying the results "do not conform either to truth or to justice". He was chosen to preach the Lenten spiritual exercises to Pope Benedict and the Roman Curia in 2012. In 2013, Monsengwo Pasinya was mentioned as a possible successor to Pope Benedict XVI. He was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2013 papal conclave that elected Pope Francis. On 13 April 2013, he was appointed to the Council of Cardinals, a group Pope Francis established a month after his election to advise him and to study a plan for revising the Apostolic Constitution on the Roman Curia, Pastor Bonus. In January 2018, even as he approached retirement, he continued to protest violence on Kabila's part against protesters calling on him to abide by the constitutional restrictions on his term of office. Pope Francis accepted his resignation as Archbishop of Kinshasa on 1 November 2018. On 12 December 2018, the Vatican announced that Monsengwo Pasinya would be leaving the Council of Cardinals as part of his retirement as well.
