KINSHASA, Congo (CNS) — The Catholic bishops of Congo have called on each citizen to become personally involved in the fight against deeply rooted corruption in the African country. The bishops describe corruption as “one of the bases for the unequal distribution of national resources between the wealthy classes, made up of public authorities, and the majority of the population who live in misery.”

In a pastoral letter, “Restoration of the Nation by the Fight Against Corruption,” the Kinshasa-based bishops’ conference said that, “despite commitments made by the government, we see no real determination of our political leaders to put in place mechanisms to prevent and punish corruption.”

In the July 10 letter, read in churches July 12 and published on the conference Web site, the bishops said corrupt practices are gradually eating their way into governmental affairs. Such corruption can only be fought with a “merciless struggle,” they said. “The success of this struggle will also depend on the population, urged to abandon its passivity in denouncing corruption and, therefore, to avoid becoming accomplices in an evil of which the people themselves are the first victim,” they said.

The letter was written in the context of the 49th anniversary of Congo’s independence from Belgium, celebrated June 30.