Source: Agenzia Fides – MIL OSI
Monday, 28 July 2025
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Bunia (Agenzia Fides) – Dozens of Catholic faithful were killed with rifles and machetes while participating in a prayer vigil at the Parish of Blessed Anuarite. The massacre occurred during the night of Saturday, July 26, and Sunday, July 27, in Komanda, a small town in the Diocese of Bunia, in the Ituri province, in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The attack was carried out by a group of rebels affiliated with the Islamic State who, in addition to attacking the Catholic church, spread terror throughout the town, destroying homes and shops, many of which were set on fire.The exact number of victims is not yet known, but local police have reported more than 40 dead, including 19 women, 15 men, and nine children. Volunteers are working to bury the deceased in a mass grave on the consecrated grounds of the church. The Komanda massacre is the latest in a series of attacks that have hit the region: just a few days earlier, another church was desecrated in a nearby village in the same diocese (see Fides, 23/7/2025), and shortly before the assault on Komanda, the village of Machongani was also attacked.According to local media, the attacks were allegedly carried out by members of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), armed with rifles and machetes. In recent years, eastern Congo has been the scene of numerous deadly attacks by armed groups, including the ADF and Rwandan-backed militias. The ADF, which maintains ties to the Islamic State (IS), operates in the Uganda-Congo border area, frequently targeting civilians.The group was formed in Uganda in the late 1990s, in response to alleged discontent with President Yoweri Museveni. Following Ugandan military pressure, the ADF moved its operations to neighboring Congo in 2002, where it is responsible for the deaths of thousands of civilians. The Congolese army (FARDC) has long struggled to contain the group, especially amid renewed conflict with the M23 rebel movement.In 2019, the ADF pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, which presents them as its “Central African Province” (ISCAP), and has claimed responsibility for several of their actions.At the end of 2021, the governments of Kampala and Kinshasa launched the joint military operation “Shujaa” against the ADF, without succeeding in putting an end to their crimes. Meanwhile, Komanda is depopulating. Local media report thousands of families have fled their homes: neighborhoods such as Base, Zunguluka, Umoja, and Ngombenyama, considered particularly vulnerable, are completely uninhabited. Many are heading toward Kisangani, others toward Bunia, on foot, by motorcycle, or by taxi.These displaced people join the 20,000 who had already arrived in Bunia after another attack in the Djugu territory, further north, and who are now surviving in very precarious conditions. According to data from the Bunia Municipality, more than 2,400 displaced people are living with host families, who themselves face serious hardships. Authorities have expressed concern about the risk of epidemics and the increase in mortality due to water and food shortages.Pope Leo XIV, according to a telegram signed by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and sent to Fulgence Muteba Mugalu, President of the Episcopal Conference of Congo, “learned with dismay and deep sorrow of the attack perpetrated against the Parish of Blessed Anuarite in Komanda, which caused the death of several faithful gathered for worship.”The Pontiff, the telegram reads,”joins the mourning of the families and the Christian community harshly affected, expressing his closeness to them and assuring them of his prayers. This tragedy invites us even more to work for the integral human development of the tormented population of this region.” The Bishop of Rome “implores God that the blood of these martyrs may be a seed of peace, reconciliation, brotherhood, and love for all the Congolese people” and “sends his Apostolic Blessing to the parish of Blessed Anuarite in Komanda, especially to the grieving families, as well as to the daughters and sons of the Democratic Republic of Congo and to the entire nation.” (F.B.) (Agenzia Fides, 28/7/2025)
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