The death of a brother will be celebrated as a paschal event
in a prayer filled with hope…. RL 13

The Blessed Isidore Bakanja Province and the Archdiocese of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo paid vibrant tribute on Friday, 29 August 2025 to Bishop Edouard Kisonga, Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus, Vicar General and member of the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament, who died at the age of 79 on 20 August in Monkole Hospital. The funeral programme included Masses in parishes and religious communities offered for the repose of the deceased, starting on 22 August 2025. A series of Masses were also planned for Monday 25 August and Tuesday 26 August 2025 respectively in the parishes of Saint Luke of Macampagne and Saint Sacrament of Binza Delvaux.

After a Mass of Suffrage celebrated at the Our Lady of Congo Cathedral by the Metropolitan Archbishop, Frilodin Cardinal Ambongo Bessungu, the body of His Excellency Mgr Kisonga was buried in the Saint André-Kaggwa diocesan cemetery in Kintambo.

The ceremony, reverently conducted, brought together many faithful as well as a wide range of important figures: a bishop of the Episcopal Conference of Congo-Brazzaville, the bishops of the Episcopal Conference of Congo-Kinshasa, led by its president, His Excellency Mgr Fulgence Muteba, leaders of other religious denominations and also political, administrative and academic persons. All came to pay tribute to the memory of someone who was a pastor devoted to the service of God and his people.

In his homily, Cardinal Ambongo described Bishop Kisonga as a good and faithful servant of the Lord, whose obedience was a way of life, rooted in charity and featuring a passionate love of the liturgy. He recalled that, even after becoming an emeritus, the auxiliary bishop remained available to serve the Archdiocese of Kinshasa.

The president of the National Episcopal Conference of Congo, Bishop Fulgence Muteba, for his part, underlined Bishop Kisonga’s characteristic joy and humility even in his musical compositions showing that his service to God was not a burden. Bishop Kisonga was a humble pastor, and the Church-Family of God in the Democratic Republic of Congo will treasure precious memories of him.

For his part Father Olivier Ndondo, Provincial Superior of the Religious of the Blessed Sacrament in Congo and Uganda, paid a vibrant tribute to his elder with these words: his testimony of life, as the first Congolese sss priest, the first indigenous parish priest of the Parish of the Blessed Sacrament, the first Rector at the Emmaus Scholasticate at the Parish of the Blessed Anuarite, the first Regional Superior, the first Congolese bishop, Monsignor knew how to embody this beautiful statement of Christ: “I am among you as one who serves” (Luke 22:27). His episcopate was for us Religious of the Blessed Sacrament in Congo, a gospel about being close to one another, listening and wisdom. His unfailing fidelity, his generosity, his total commitment to the church were a true and profound source of inspiration for the younger generations, especially in the art of celebrating the Eucharist worthily. It was he, as auxiliary bishop and in charge of the liturgy in the Archdiocese of Kinshasa, who revealed the beauty of the liturgy in the hearts of many faithful and priests so that the Eucharistic mystery would be known to all.

Throughout his life he served the Church: Born on 26 April 1946 in Kisantu, a province of Central Congo, Edouard Kisonga entered the novitiate of the Blessed Sacrament Fathers in Lonzo, in the diocese of Kenge, in 1970. Ordained a priest in 1981, he was appointed auxiliary bishop of Kinshasa by Pope Saint John Paul II on 29 October 1999. He was ordained bishop together with their excellencies Bishops Daniel Nlandu and Dominique Bulamatari, during a Mass organized at the Martyrs stadium and presided over by His Eminence Fréderic Cardinal Etsou on 31 January 2000. Bishop Edouard exercised his mission until 2022 before becoming auxiliary bishop emeritus.

His passing is a great loss for the Archdiocese of Kinshasa, the Church of Congo, and the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament in Congo (Bakanja Province). But his testimony of fidelity and joy remains a spiritual heritage for future generations.

Father Noel Mayamba, sss