Congo DRC: The Catholic Church under New Attacks
Faithful in prayer in one of the churches of the DRC capital, Kinshasa.
After the massacres in September 2016 (see DICI#340, Sept. 9, 2016), new attacks on Catholic religious, and the buildings and goods of the Church were perpetrated in April 2017, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Congo DRC: The Catholic Church under New Attacks
According to Radio Okapi, the United Nations’ radio in DRC, on April 3, 2017, and to cath.ch’s correspondent in Africa, a group of militiamen sacked, pillaged and set fire to several buildings in Luebo, in the province of West Kasaï, in the center of the country. The bishop’s house, the chancellery, the coordination offices for authorized Catholic schools, and the Sisters’ novitiate were pillaged and burned. The Cathedral of St. John and the vicarage were vandalized. “At the Institute of Lunkelu, where candidates to the priesthood are formed”, reads Radio Okapi’s website, “the assailants destroyed everything”.
According to Fr. Charles Mukubayi, head of the diocesan Caritas of Luebo, quoted by cath.ch, the religious were forced to flee the city and take refuge in the scrublands. They have been threatened with death if they come out of hiding. Radio Okapi even added on April 7, on its website, that “the entire population has fled” and mentions a “stampede” of “policemen, including some officers of the National Congolese Police” that left the place along with the civilians.
According to Tv5monde on April 3, the insurgents also sowed terror in the town of Tshimbulu, in the region of Central Kasaï, to the east of Luebo. According to La Croix on April 7, another attack took place in the extreme northeast of the country, on the presbytery of the St. Gustave church in Beni Paida. On the night of Sunday, April 2, a group armed with knives and hammers attacked the priests residing there. The three of them were able to escape but the buildings were sacked. The attackers took chalices and other valuables, along with a “considerable sum” of money.
Sources: cath.ch/radio okapi/TV5monde/la croix – DICI#353 April 14, 2017
