Framework Agreement Signed Between Holy See and Republic of Congo

Agreement guarantees to the Church the possibility of carrying out her mission in the Congo, legal personality of the Church and her institutions is recognized

The Holy See and the Republic of the Congo have signed a framework agreement on the relations between the Catholic Church and the state.

In Brazzaville, at the Palace of the People of the Republic of the Congo, Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and Congo’s Prime Minister, Clément Mouamba, on the Holy See and Congo’s behalf, respectively, signed the agreement on Friday, Feb. 3. The African nation’s President, Denis Sassou-N’guesso, was present.Consisting of a preamble and eighteen articles, the agreement guarantees to the Church the possibility of carrying out her mission in the Congo.

In particular, the legal personality of the Church and her institutions is recognized. The two parties, while safeguarding the independence and autonomy proper to them, undertake to work together for the moral, spiritual and material wellbeing of the human person and for the promotion of the common good.Upon the exchange of the Instruments of Ratification, the agreement will enter into force.