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Conclave

Meet the conclave: Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo

The Congolese cardinal rides motorcycles and wants to go to the moon - if necessary

The Pillar
May 03, 2025
∙ Paid

Fridolin Ambongo Besungu was born on Jan. 24, 1960, just months before the country then known as the Belgian Congo gained its independence after 75 harrowing years of colonial rule.

The following decades would be full of upheavals for the Democratic Republic of the Congo — and, at times, for Ambongo.

Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo, pictured in March 2019, befo…

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