The Code of Canon Law states that “Clerics are forbidden to assume public offices which entail a participation in the exercise of civil power.” But does this mean that clergy are prohibited from working in the civil service?
Not, it seems, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where it is not unusual to find priests or nuns working for the state in administrative roles. Consider the case of Fr Pierre Mukuna Mutanda, Professor of Church History at the University of Kinshasa, who until recently was the chief of staff of the higher education and universities minister, Steve Mbikayi.
