AFRICA/DR CONGO - In war-torn Kivu the Bishop of Butembo-Beni urges the faithful not to lose faith

Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) – “We must never lose faith, whatever happens to us. Even when everything seems dark, God never abandons us,” urged Msgr. Melchisédech Sikuli Paluku, Bishop of Butembo-Beni, during Palm Sunday Mass.
Msgr. Sikuli expressed his compassion for the often forgotten victims of the war in Kivu and called on Christians to become witnesses of hope, stating that “evil will not have the last word in history”.
The area of Butembo and Beni in North Kivu (east of the Democratic Republic of Congo) is still in the hands of the Congolese government, after M23 rebels captured the provincial capital, Goma (see Fides, 27/1/2025).
The war in North and South Kivu continues sowing death and destruction. At least 50 people died in Goma on the night of 11-12 April in a series of fighting that affected some neighbourhoods in the western part of the city.
The M23 and the Congolese army (FARDC) accuse each other for the massacre of civilians. According to local sources, the fighting erupted when a group of Wazalendo (pro-government Congolese militiamen) attempted a raid to regain control of the city.
The problem of the control of the Wazalendo militiamen is also felt in the neighbouring province of South Kivu, whose capital, Bukavu, was conquered by the M23 in mid-February (see Fides, 17/2/2025).
According to a report sent to Fides by the local civil society association ACMEJ (Association against Evil and for the Management of Youth) in the areas of South Kivu not occupied by the M23, the inhabitants are worried by the indiscriminate shooting carried out by Wazalendo militiamen and government soldiers who have come to protect them from the rebels. The problem is especially felt in the Ruzizi and Uvira plains. “ACMEJ facilitators have contacted a number of sources in the Ruzizi and Uvira Plain: all of them say that firing by security forces or security officers must first be banned, while M23 and its allies and Rwandan soldiers have not yet arrived,” the report states. The shootings originate from disputes between the different forces that should be allies in fighting the M23. The ACMEJ makes two observations in this regard. The first is that there is a need to harmonize the different self-defence groups that have come to the area from other parts of the province. The second is that mutual mistrust between the defenders persists due to proven cases of defection especially among regular army soldiers in favour of the M23. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 14/4/2025)

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