Cardinal Joseph Malula; Fought for Church Rights in Zaire

Cardinal Joseph Malula, 71, who fought for church rights in Zaire. Malula, a native of the former Belgian Congo, was appointed archbishop of Kinshasa, the capital, in 1964. Five years later, Pope Paul VI elevated him to cardinal. In the early 1970s, President Mobutu Sese Seko launched an Africanization program that tried to sharply curtail the power of the church. Malula protested, was denounced by Mobutu, and went into exile in Rome. The restrictions proved unpopular and were gradually lifted. Malula returned to the country and the church and state began a reconciliation. In Louvain, Belgium on Wednesday of what was described only as a illness.