Celebration of the 800th anniversary of St. Francis' Easter in Lubumbashi

In fraternal joy and thanksgiving, the Franciscan Family of Lubumbashi, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, gathered on Sunday, the 22nd March, 2026 at the Parish of St. Francis of Assisi, located in a suburb of the city, to solemnly celebrate the beginning of the 800th anniversary of the Easter of St. Francis of Assisi. This celebration, shared in communion with the entire Order of Friars Minor, brought together friars, nuns, members of the Franciscan Family and many faithful parishioners. 

In the heart of this Eucharistic celebration, which marks the inauguration of the Jubilee Year dedicated to the 800th anniversary of the birth into Heaven of St. Francis, the Minister of the Province of St. Benedict the African, Br. Georges Misange, OFM, invited the assembly to be artisans of peace and life in places where violence and death seem to reign supreme. Drawing inspiration from the Word of God and the luminous witness of the Poverello-Poor Man of Assisi, he invited the faithful to be close to the lepers, the marginalized and the suffering of Congolese society; to enter deeply into the Paschal Mystery, the source of hope and new life. 

He emphasized in particular that, in this Jubilee Year, we are called, with the intercession of the Seraphic Father, to pray for the grace of being men and women capable of helping others to rise from their graves: tombs of discouragement, injustice, irresponsibility, corruption, violence, poverty, fear and despair. 

In this spirit, the assembly was exhorted to ask the Lord for the strength to continue to believe even when all seems lost; continue to hope even when everything seems dead; continue to love even when all seems lost. 

This celebration was an intense moment of communion, fraternity, spiritual renewal and missionary commitment, reminding everyone that the spiritual legacy of St. Francis remains a living source of hope for our wounded world and for the human and social peripheries of our world, and in particular for our country, the Democratic Republic of Congo. 

Br. Heribert Mujinga, OFM 

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