Catholic parishes in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have been attacked and looted in a serious escalation of violence in the country.
According to reports, militants in the central Kasai province, who have been fighting the military since August, have increased their attacks on civilian communities, bringing accusations of serious human rights abuses.
“Violence and unimaginable atrocities have been committed against peaceful citizens”, Bishop Félicien Mwanama Galumbulula of Luiza said.
The bishop, who cut short a trip to Europe because of the violence, added that numerous parishes had been targeted by the fighters. “Some have been abandoned and others looted,” he said, reporting further that the priests of Ngwema and Mubinza “had to walk day and night to find refuge in another area.”
DRC’s leading prelate, meanwhile, has condemned attacks on a Catholic seminary and a parish in the country.
Sacking of seminary
Reacting to news of the sacking of the major seminary of Malole of Kananga, also situated in the central Kasai province, and a separate attack on a parish in the capital, Kinshasa, Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo stated that the attacks were acts deliberately staged to “destroy [the Church’s] mission of peace and reconciliation”.
“Along with all bishops, I denounce these acts of violence, which are likely to plunge our country further into unspeakable chaos,” he said.
The attack on the seminary has been blamed on militia members who ransacked the property and set fire to rooms.
In the capital, the vandalising of St Dominic’s church by a dozen men prompted its priest, Fr Julien Wato, to report that tensions are increasing in Kinshasha and “in the street, it’s not unusual to hear threats against the Church”.
The uptick in violence in DRC comes in the wake of a fresh threat to presidential elections due for 2017, which has seen the government claim that staging the poll will prove too costly and should be postponed.
