Officials of the Congolese branch of the Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB) have announced that an elderly Belgian-born priest in their Catholic religious congregation was found dead this week at his residence in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). But they gave few details surrounding the death of Léopold Feyen, 82, fueling suspicion of foul play.
“He was found dead in his room this Tuesday, December 12, 2023,” said the Salesians’ Africa Congo Congo Vice-Province (ACC) in statement released on Wednesday. Feyen had been working in DRC for decades, most recently at a Salesian-run Our Lady Help of Christians Parish in the Archdiocese of Kinshasa.
While the ACC statement makes no mention of murder, the circumstances surrounding the discovery of the priest’s lifeless body point in that direction. A video seen by La Croix Africa shows him lying on the floor with two blood-stained machetes and a knife nearby. The police have opened an investigation to shed light on this macabre discovery.
“Koko Polo”
Feyen made his first vows as a Salesian of Don Bosco in 1961 and his perpetual vows six years later. He was ordained to the presbyterate on September 13, 1969. “Our dear confrere Pol Feyen has died at the age of 82 after working for a long time in the care of abandoned young people, for whom he was, like Don Bosco, a ‘Father and Teacher’ with the heart of Jesus Christ the Good Shepherd,” the ACC superior said in a statement.
Young people in the DRC nicknamed the Belgian priest “Koko Polo”, which means grandfather Polo in their Lingala language. Many of them posted tributes on social media to the man who was director of the Cité des Jeunes in Lubumbashi for many years. “We have lost a great teacher, an exemplary Salesian,” wrote one of them. “Thank you Father Pol for your advice, and above all for always being available to listen to us.”
The Salesians’ Congolese provincial superior of entrusted “the illustrious departed and his biological family” to the prayers of the people of God. He asked his fellow Salesians to observe the prescriptions of article 54 of the congregation’s constitution and 76 of the Salesians’ general regulations. The latter stipulates that 30 Masses are to be celebrated by the community to which he belonged, and one in each house of the province.
Source link : https://international.la-croix.com/news/world/mystery-surrounds-death-of-elderly-belgian-priest-in-dr-congo/18867
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Publish date : 2023-12-14 08:00:00
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