Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 10, 2025 / 15:19 pm (CNA).

Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo is asking U.S. President Donald Trump to reinstate foreign aid to Africa. 

“Targeted humanitarian aid for Africa is urgently needed, morally good, and of great strategic value to the U.S,” Ambongo, the archbishop of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, wrote in a June 8 op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal. 

“​​President Trump has made clear that he will put the needs of his country and its citizens first before attending to the needs of the world. No leader of a nation as great as the U.S. could do otherwise,” the cardinal stated. “It would be a mistake, however, for Mr. Trump to forget about Africa.”

Ambongo highlighted Africa’s rich natural resources and “bright entrepreneurial and eager young people” as important assets to the U.S., emphasizing the utility of a relationship between Africa and the United States. 

American generosity toward Africa through USAID has “transformed millions of lives for the better” in the region, Ambongo said, pointing out that American aid has helped enhance African society and avert further political and economic crises threatening the continent’s development. In the process, he noted, American economic influence in the region has been strengthened.

With the freezing of critical aid to African countries, the cardinal described Africa as “a magnet for conflicts and fights over the natural resources so important to modern technology.” 

He also noted pervasive famine and poverty plaguing many parts of the region. 

While Ambongo acknowledged the need for the U.S. to be concerned about the use of its limited resources, he noted that international adversaries will replace the U.S. if it completely withdraws all aid to Africa.

“International politics won’t tolerate a vacuum,” he predicted. “Should the U.S. abandon Africa, its place will be taken by its adversaries: China, Russia, Iran, North Korea.”

The cardinal stressed that “it isn’t too late to turn the tide” and reach a mutually beneficial solution that does not exploit U.S. resources for ideological causes that run counter to African values by providing aid that supports abortion services and contraception in the region. 

“It’s unhelpful to tie aid to ideology — to abortion or ‘population control’ — that defies the values of many African cultures,” he said. “I believe that respect for African culture can coexist with humanitarian aid. Cultural colonization needn’t be the price exacted for a moral, strategic, and humanitarian partnership.” 

Ambongo’s remarks on the politicization of humanitarian aid come after the U.S. State Department announced its plans to destroy a reserve of artificial contraceptives that was previously set aside for distribution in developing countries through foreign aid programs. 

Pleading on behalf of bishops, priests, and laypeople in Africa, Ambongo urged Trump and his administration “to reconsider aid to his friends in Africa, who have been and will continue to be important partners of the U.S.” 

“We are eager to work closely with Washington to ensure that all such aid is used well, free of the fraud and mismanagement that has occurred in the past,” he concluded. “There is too much at stake — for Africans, for Americans, and for the world.”

Video: https://youtu.be/mAKvBLYJ5Z4

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Every papal diplomat around the world must let people know that the Catholic Church is always on the side of the marginalized and is ready to face everything "out of love," Pope Leo XIV said.

"I count on you so that everyone in the countries where you live may know that the church is always ready for everything out of love, that she is always on the side of the least, the poor and that she will always defend the sacrosanct right to believe in God, to believe that this life is not at the mercy of the powers of this world, but is permeated by a mysterious meaning," the pope said.

As part of the Jubilee of the Holy See, Pope Leo met at the Vatican June 10 with apostolic nuncios and other papal diplomats, mostly archbishops, who represent the pope to international institutions and national governments. There are more than 100 nunciatures around the world.

"Your role, your ministry, is irreplaceable," the pope told them, thanking them for their dedication and especially for their work in helping with the selection of candidates to become diocesan bishops. 

A diplomatic corps as universal and united "as ours does not exist in any other country in the world," he told the group of prelates who are chosen from around the world and usually sent to study at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in Rome.

"Your, our, communion is not merely functional, nor an idea; we are united in Christ, and we are united in the church," he said. "The diplomacy of the Holy See constitutes in its very personnel a model -- certainly not perfect, but very meaningful -- of the message it proposes: that of human fraternity and peace among all peoples."

As pope, "the ministry of Peter is to create relationships, bridges: and a representative of the pope, first and foremost, serves this invitation" to build relationships by looking at those they meet with the eyes of Peter, he said.

"Be men capable of building relationships where it is hardest to do," the pope told them. "But in doing so, preserve the same humility and the same realism of Peter, who is well aware that he does not have the solution to everything, but he knows he has what counts, namely Christ."

"To give Christ means to give love, to bear witness to the charity that is ready for everything," Pope Leo said.

"Only love is worthy of faith, in the face of the suffering of the innocent, the crucified of today, whom many of you know personally, as you serve peoples who are victims of war, violence and injustice, or even of the false well-being that deludes and disappoints," he said.

The pope described the importance of their work in helping him address various issues. "Because when a situation is presented to me that relates, for example, to the church in a given country, I can rely on the documentation, reflections and summaries prepared by you and your collaborators." 

Papal representatives are more than diplomats, he said; they should always be pastors, inspired by "the spirit of faith."

Through his representatives in different nations, the pope is able "to participate in the very life of his sons and daughters" and becomes aware of their needs and aspirations, he said.

Pope Leo told them to "feel that you are missionaries, sent by the pope to be tools of communion, unity, serving the dignity of the human person, promoting sincere and constructive relations everywhere with the authorities with whom you are required to cooperate."

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who as Vatican secretary of state, oversees the papal diplomatic corps, told Vatican News June 9 that a nuncio is "a bridge" between the pope and local churches, between the church and nations, "and between the wounds of the world and the hope offered by the Gospel."

A papal representative, he said, "must be a man of reconciliation" because "the mission of pontifical diplomacy is to support the Holy Father's efforts to build a world rooted in truth, justice and peace." 

A papal nuncio "is called to dedicate himself to mediation and dialogue. This is the only way to weave the fabric of international cooperation and discern even the faintest will for peace among divided parties," he said.

"We must respond to the Holy Father's call to be sowers of peace, recognizing that in diplomacy, the other is not primarily an adversary, but a fellow human being with whom we are called to engage," Cardinal Parolin said.

The nuncio's diplomatic missions, "engaging with civil authorities, working to heal divisions and promoting peace, justice and religious freedom," are not carried out to promote the Vatican's interests, but they are "guided by a Gospel-centered vision of the world and international relations," he said.

Indeed, they need to be "grounded in a true pastoral presence," Cardinal Parolin said. "A nuncio is, above all, a man of the church -- a pastor -- who is called to follow the example of Christ the Good Shepherd" and to be "close to bishops, priests, religious and the communities they are sent to serve."

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Reporting by CNS Rome is made possible by the Catholic Communication Campaign. Give to the CCC special collection in your diocese or any time at: https://bit.ly/CCC-give

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Video: https://youtu.be/JSfZ9m06gS0

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Those serving the Holy See can serve its mission best by striving to live a holy life in conformity to Christ, Pope Leo XIV said.

The fruitfulness of the church, he said, "is realized in the lives of her members to the extent that they relive, 'in miniature,' what the Mother lived, namely, they love according to the love of Jesus."

"All the fruitfulness of the church and of the Holy See depends on the cross of Christ. Otherwise, it is only appearance, if not worse," he said in his homily during Mass celebrating the Jubilee of the Holy See June 9, the feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church.

The Jubilee celebration included a morning meditation by Italian Sister Maria Gloria Riva, a member of the Perpetual Adoration Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, in the Paul VI Audience Hall. 

In the presence of Pope Leo and cardinals, bishops, priests and religious and lay men and women working in the Roman Curia or connected with the mission of the Holy See, she spoke about hope relying on having a healthy balance between the past and future.

It is dangerous to put too much emphasis on either the past or the future, she said. "The past, with its glory and sorrows, can represent a trampoline" with which one leaps toward "the great horizon" of eternal life.

After the meditation, Pope Leo took the wooden Jubilee cross and led those gathered in a procession into St. Peter's Square toward the basilica and through the Holy Door. He then celebrated Mass in St. Peter's Basilica. 

In his homily, the pope underlined the connection between the mission of the church and Mary as mother of the church.

"The fruitfulness of the church is the same fruitfulness as Mary's; it is realized in the lives of her members" to the extent that they love, like Mary, according to the love of Jesus, he said.

The fruitfulness of the church and the Holy See depends on the cross of Christ, he said. "In fact, the fruitfulness of Mary and of the church are inextricably linked to their holiness, which is their conformity to Christ."

"The Holy See is holy as the church is holy, in her original core, in the very fabric of her being," Pope Leo said. "The Apostolic See thus preserves the holiness of its roots while being preserved by them."

However, the Holy See also "lives in the holiness of each of its members. Therefore, the best way to serve the Holy See is to strive for holiness, each according to his or her particular state of life and the work entrusted to him or her," he said. 

"For example, a priest who personally carries a heavy cross because of his ministry, yet every day goes to the office and tries to do his job to the best of his ability with love and faith, this priest participates and contributes to the fruitfulness of the church," he said. "Similarly, a father or mother of a family who lives in a difficult situation at home, with a child who is cause for concern or a sick parent, and continues his or her work with commitment, that man or woman is fruitful with the fruitfulness of Mary and of the church."

Just as Mary supported the ministry of the Apostle Peter, "the mother church supports the ministry of Peter's successors with the Marian charism," he said. This Marian aspect, "with its motherhood, gift of Christ and of the Spirit," ensures the fruitfulness and holiness of the Petrine ministry, he said.

"Dear friends, let us praise God for his Word, the lamp that guides our steps, even in our daily life at the service of the Holy See," he said, praying that God's church, "sustained by the love of Christ, may be ever more fruitful in the Spirit, exult in the holiness of her children, and draw to her embrace all the whole human family."

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Reporting by CNS Rome is made possible by the Catholic Communication Campaign. Give to the CCC special collection in your diocese or any time at: https://bit.ly/CCC-give