“May the blood of these martyrs become a seed of peace, reconciliation, fraternity, and love for the Congolese people,” the Pope writes in his message following a brutal attack on a Catholic Church in Komanda town in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Nearly 40 people were killed Sunday in eastern Congo’s Ituri province when rebels stormed a Catholic church during a vigil and opened fire on worshippers. At least 38 people, including women and children, were confirmed dead in the church, while another five were killed in a nearby village. In a telegram addressed to Archbishop Mugalu, President of the Congolese Bishops’ Conference on the Pope’s behalf, Cardinal Pietro Parolin says, “His Holiness Pope Leo XIV 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.” This tragedy, he continues, “calls us even more urgently to work for the integral human development of the martyred population of that region.”
According to Congolese authorities, the attacks in Komanda town in the conflict-battered region were carried out by the Allied Democratic Force, a rebel group backed by the Islamic State that has mostly targeted villagers in eastern Congo and across the border in Uganda.
Spanish bishops speak out after leaks of their meeting with Leo XIV
The executive committee of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference, (CEE, by its Spanish acronym) meeting in Madrid this week, issued an official statement regarding the leaks
