The quiet Sunday rhythms of the village parish of Blessed Anuarite were shattered on July 27 when militants stormed the church during worship. Armed with machetes and fire, they left behind not just burned walls and desecrated pews, but the bodies of more than 43 worshippers—nine of them children. Others were abducted, homes and shops in the area reduced to ash. The attackers were members of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an Islamist militia aligned with the so-called Islamic State. For residents of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s eastern provinces, this is not an isolated nightmare. It is part of a relentless cycle of massacres, abductions, and displacement that has continued despite the region’s prolonged “state of siege.”
In the days following the attack, the country’s Catholic bishops issued a statement that was both grief-stricken and accusatory. The National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO) demanded answers—not only about the attack itself, but about the absence of protection for the population. “Security forces were nearby,” said Bishop Dieudonné Uringi of Bunia, “but they did not act in time. They should have intervened more quickly to protect the people.” CENCO’s communiqué was even more pointed: “This massacre is one of many in a province under military control for years. Killings and kidnappings happen repeatedly, and no credible explanation has been offered to reassure the people. Who are these serial killers serving? Who benefits from these crimes against peaceful citizens?” The aftermath is visible not only in the charred remains of the church but in the swelling numbers of displaced people. Many survivors fled to Bunia, where the diocese is struggling to house and feed them. “We welcome them, but we have no means to sustain them,” Bishop Uringi said, appealing for continued aid from international partners like the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need.
