The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) finds itself once again in the global spotlight, as a new wave of violence in its eastern provinces has left hundreds dead and entire communities living in fear. In recent months, the region has witnessed a chilling series of massacres, particularly targeting civilians and Catholic communities, prompting church leaders to raise their voices for peace, justice, and accountability.
According to reports from ACI Africa and OSV News, at least 252 local armed groups and 14 foreign militias now operate in the lawless eastern stretches of the DRC. But two groups have emerged as the principal architects of the latest bloodshed: the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an Islamist insurgency with ties to the Islamic State, and the March 23 Movement (M23), a rebel paramilitary force rooted in regional ethnic and political conflicts.
The violence has been relentless. On July 26-27, more than 40 people were murdered by the ADF during an evening prayer vigil at the Catholic Parish of Blessed Anuarite in Komanda, Ituri province. In the same month, M23 rebels summarily executed over 140 ethnic Hutu civilians across at least 14 villages near Virunga National Park in North Kivu. The carnage continued into August and September: over 50 civilians, including women and children, were killed by the ADF in Beni and Lubero territories between August 9 and 16. Then, on the night of September 8-9, more than 60 people attending a Christian funeral vigil in Lubero were slaughtered, followed by the massacre of at least 30 Christian farmers in Potodu village, Beni territory, on September 9. The brutality did not stop there—on September 19, M23 forces killed at least 37 villagers in Walikale Territory as they withdrew from battle with the national army. Even places of worship and learning have not been spared: an armed robbery at a training school in Bunia on September 15-16 left a priest injured, marking the third such attack at the site since July, and St. Kizito Propaedeutic Seminary in Bunia suffered a violent intrusion by armed men during the night of August 19-20.
The roots of this violence run deep. The DRC, the largest country in sub-Saharan Africa by area, has been a crucible of conflict for decades. Its rich natural resources—including gold, timber, and coltan, an ore essential for cellphones—have made it a perpetual target for armed groups. The region’s instability was exacerbated by the aftermath of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, which saw nearly two million Hutus flee into the DRC, and the subsequent Congo Wars that drew in neighboring countries and left millions dead. The ADF, originally formed in Uganda in the 1990s by groups opposed to President Yoweri Museveni, was pushed into eastern Congo, where it forged links with international jihadist organizations. In 2019, its leader Musa Baluku pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, rebranding the group as part of the Islamic State’s Central African Province.
M23, on the other hand, traces its origins to 2012, when former members of the Rwandan-backed National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) mutinied, citing the Congolese government’s failure to uphold a peace accord. The group, largely composed of Rwandan-Congolese Tutsi fighters, launched a major offensive in early 2025, seizing the provincial capitals of Goma and Bukavu. M23 has been accused of extensive human rights abuses, including torture, rape, and the summary execution of children.
Why are Christians so often the victims? The answer is complex. While the atrocities committed by M23 are driven largely by ethnic and political motives—the July executions near Virunga targeted Hutu civilians, for example—the ADF’s attacks have a pronounced religious dimension. As noted by international relations expert Stig Jarle Hansen, targeting Christians serves both an ideological and a practical purpose for the ADF: “First, it gives the group media attention in the global press and in Islamic State outlets. African affiliates have grown in their importance for the Islamic State; they are seen as examples of ‘success’ and the ‘new fields of jihad.’” At the same time, spreading terror allows the ADF to plunder new communities more easily.
In the face of such horror, Catholic leaders in the DRC have not remained silent. Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo, who leads the Church in Kinshasa, has been at the forefront of efforts to broker peace and demand justice. During a September 2025 visit to Poland, Cardinal Ambongo explained the Church’s vision for a comprehensive peace process: “Instead of continuing to wage war on each other, we can sit down around a table and then each say what hurts us, what is wrong. And then together, we will look for solutions.” He noted that the “Social Pact for Peace and Living Well Together in the DRC and the Great Lakes,” a roadmap developed by the National Episcopal Conference of Congo and the Church of Christ in the Congo, has been accepted by countries in the region, but the government in Kinshasa remains hesitant. “Pope Leo is aware of our initiative and is encouraging us to go ahead with it,” Ambongo added, highlighting the Vatican’s support.
Church leaders have also issued direct appeals to the nation and the international community. In a September 12 statement, the National Episcopal Conference of Congo called for urgent action: “The National Episcopal Conference of Congo calls on the Congolese nation and the international community to take greater action on the security situation prevailing in Ituri, in the northern part of North Kivu and in South Kivu. It is sad to note that the killings and massacres of Congolese people living there no longer move either the nation or the international community. It goes without saying that human life in the Democratic Republic of the Congo seems to have been trivialized.”
Bishop Mwanama, another prominent Catholic leader, has denounced “the extreme impoverishment of large segments of the population” alongside the enrichment of a minority, urging leaders to “work for the emergence of a nation where men and women live in harmony and peace.” He stressed, “Peace for all comes from justice for each.” Bishop Melchisedec Sikuli Paluku, in a homily delivered on September 21 to mark National Justice and Peace Day, called on all citizens to “act for a new Congo,” emphasizing justice, mercy, stewardship, and accountability in both public and private life. “Every responsibility carries the obligation to give an account. Whether in public, private, or family roles, we must answer for our management before society,” he said.
The Justice and Peace Commission of CENCO continues to play a critical role, working on civic education, national cohesion, human rights advocacy, and peace promotion. Yet, as the massacres mount and the pleas for peace echo unanswered, many Congolese fear that their cries are falling on deaf ears.
Still, the unwavering commitment of the Church and its leaders to truth, justice, and reconciliation offers a glimmer of hope in these dark times—reminding the world that peace in the DRC can only be built on a foundation of justice for all.