Christians comprise 95% of the population of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Holy Archdiocese of Kinshasa and Central Africa is under the jurisdiction of the His Beatitude Theodore II, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa.
For more ChristianPersecution.com coverage of the persecution of Christians in the Democratic Republic of Congo, see here.
“Eight Christians killed in latest DRC attacks,” Open Doors, May 18, 2023:
Last week, over the course of three days, Islamic militants murdered at least eight Christians in vulnerable communities in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) – an Islamic extremist group with links to so-called Islamic State – are responsible for another devastating series of attacks. Violent persecution continues to rise in the region, and assaults like this are shocking but sadly not surprising.
A series of violent attacks
The ADF began attacking villages in the Beni territory, North Kivu province, on Friday 12 May. Commuters from Kasindi-Lubiriha were travelling over a bridge when they were intercepted by ADF militants. They murdered three Christians and torched cars and motorcycles. Locals say that it was early afternoon, in broad daylight.The following day, militants also killed three Christians in Katongo village – an incident confirmed by Pastor Bunvikane, a local Open Doors contact who leads the 8e CEPAC church.
And on Sunday 14 May, around 2pm, there was a third brutal attack in the same region. ADF militants set fire to a vehicle transporting fish. The driver and passenger were trapped in the car. The driver was 36-year-old Paluku Luc, who attended Pastor Bunvikane’s church. He leaves behind a wife and three children.
“Brother Luc was at the service on Sunday, before embarking on the Kasindi-Beni Road,” Pastor Bunvikane told an Open Doors local partner. “The ADF is killing God’s people.”
Gathering to worship in the face of fear
Understandably, the local Christian communities were left deeply afraid by these latest attacks. Open Doors local partners have shared how all local travel was suspended, since the roads were so dangerous. But on Tuesday 16 May, some Christians gathered together for morning worship….
