Catholic leaders in Congo have said they hope for a lasting peace as they seek to help find practical ways of implementing the government-opposition accord signed on New Year's Eve.

The Church's bishops played a key role in bringing about the new accord.

"We're all saluting this great step, the fruit of a dialogue arranged by the church," said Monsignor Leonard Santedi Kinkupu, the rector of Kinshasa's Catholic University and former secretary-general of the bishops' conference.

"Being a Catholic country has given us an advantage over other African states when it comes to seeking peace, and it's good the church and its bishops have been instrumental in bringing this about," he told the Catholic News Service.

He was speaking as talks began on taking forward the accord between opposition leaders and representatives of President Joseph Kabila.

Kinkupu told CNS that the church had played a key role in bringing together Congo's feuding politicians.

"The church has always been involved in the work for peace and could use its moral authority to bring about direct negotiations.

"We now have a real chance of sparing our country from further violence, and this is why everyone has welcomed the church's engagement and offer of hope."

The bishops launched a mediation bid in August, after opposition leaders accused Kabila of seeking to delay autumn elections.

They then withdrew from a national dialogue in October amid worsening violence.

Then, on December 8 – days before Kabila's second and final term was due to come to an end on 20 December - both sides agreed to resume talks mediated by church officials.

Under new accord, witnessed by foreign diplomats, Kabila will remain in power, pending elections by the end of 2017.

He will work with a government headed by a prime minister nominated by the opposition.

Kabila agreed to comply with constitutional provisions barring him from seeking a third term.

A National Transition Council, headed by 84-year-old opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi, will be established in March to monitor the electoral process.

The bishops' conference president, Archbishop Marcel Utembi Tapa of Kisangani, welcomed the accord osaid he counted on all groups to "apply it in good faith".

He admitted it would be "another thing to put the compromise in place".

Agence France-Presse reported yesterday that agreement still had to be reached on composition of the new government and transitional council, as well as on dates for the 2017 elections. Several opposition groups have yet to sign the accord.

There is also uncertainty over the fate of around 400 political prisoners.

The bishops' conference secretary-general, Monsignor Donatien Nshole Babula, who helped negotiate the accord, told journalists yesterday that the document was binding, pending agreement on "certain practical modalities".

Catholics make up around half of the 67.5 million inhabitants of the Congo, where up to 6 million people died in a series of wars between 1996-2003.