Massacre in Congolese Catholic church leaves 43 dead

At least 43 people, including children, were killed July 27 in a brutal overnight attack on a Catholic church in Komanda in eastern Congo.

Militants from the Allied Democratic Forces — linked to the Islamic State group — targeted faithful gathered for a youth retreat, opening fire and using machetes before looting homes and attacking displaced persons sheltering nearby.

The United Nations’ mission in the country called the attack a “heinous” act of violence in a July 27 statement. Victims were buried in a mass grave on July 28 following a funeral Mass at the Komanda church with Father Aime Lokana Dhegoin presiding.

Pope Expresses Sorrow Over Massacre

Pope Leo expressed “deep sorrow” over the attack in a July 28 telegram, signed by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, and sent to Archbishop Fulgence Muteba Mugalu of Lubumbashi, president of Congo’s bishops’ conference.

The pope joined “the mourning of the families and the Christian community,” expressing his closeness and assurance of prayers.

“This tragedy invites us to work even harder for the integral human development of the wounded population of this region,” the pope said.

“His Holiness implores God that the blood of these martyrs may be a seed of peace, reconciliation, brotherhood, and love for all the Congolese people.”

*Cartias Hall of the Catholic Church of Blessed Marie-Clémentine Anuarite Nengapeta in Komanda, Congo, is seen in a July 27, 2025, photograph. (OSV News photo/courtesy Father Justin Zanamuzi)*

Militia Group Targeting Catholics

According to reports, the Allied Democratic Forces, or ADF, descended on Komanda, a township about 46 miles southwest of the city of Bunia, the capital of the province, in the early morning hours of July 27. Targeted were Catholics gathering for a retreat in the Caritas hall of the Blessed Marie-Clémentine Anuarite Nengapeta Catholic Church in the township.

Militants ambushed an evening prayer vigil, catching by surprise the youth who were preparing for the Sunday service. Armed men gunned down some of the worshippers, butchered others with machetes, and abducted others.

Father Marcelo Oliveira, a Comboni missionary who has been in the Congo for many years, told the pontifical charity Aid to the Church in Need that the victims were part of a movement called Eucharistic Crusade and were participating in a prayer vigil as part of a summer holiday formation session.

Murders Inside and Outside Church

“The attack occurred at around 1 o’clock in the morning. The rebels entered the church and murdered a large number of children, both inside the church building and in the compound,” he said in a message sent to the Portuguese office of ACN.

Nearby homes, shops, and banks were looted by the militia, who also attacked displaced people camping in the town’s hospital.

According to the United Nations’ mission in Congo, MONUSCO, 19 women, 15 men, and nine children were killed in the church.

“The people — both the youth and adults — had gathered to celebrate the jubilee of the parish church, when the attack occurred. Those who came from other regions left, but the local worshippers converged in the church hall to wait for the Sunday service,” Father Justin Zanamuzi, vicar general of the Diocese of Bunia, told OSV News in a telephone interview.

“As the Church, we condemn this attack in the greatest terms possible. We feel the pain of this attack.”

Militia Group Launched in Uganda in 1995

ADF, the organization blamed for the attack, was launched in Uganda in 1995, and currently operates in the mountainous region between Uganda and Congo. The militia has been recruiting child soldiers, maiming, killing, and raping women and children. In 2019, the group pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and increased its attacks.

Despite an ongoing joint military offensive, Father Zanamuzi explained that the militia had recently stepped up its violence and was still carrying out killings in villages and towns in the region.

The attack in Komanda, a commercial hub connecting Tshopo, North Kivu and Maniema provinces, is the latest one. The town is an easy target of the Congolese militias due to its geographical location and economic significance.

On July 26, the priest said, the militant group had earlier begun to attack villages before targeting the church gathering at night.

*Men stand around caskets during a burial in Komanda on July 28, 2025, of victims of an attack on the Catholic church in Komanda. (OSV News photo/courtesy Father Justin Zanamuzi)*

‘Attacks Against Defenseless Civilians’

“These targeted attacks against defenseless civilians, particularly in places of worship, are not only appalling but also in violation of all human rights standards and international law,” said Vivian van de Perre, deputy special representative of the secretary general in Congo in a July 27 statement.

Days before the attack in Komanda, another militia known as CODECO, the Cooperative for the Development of the Congo, had desecrated the St. John of Capistrano in Lopa, in Ituri, on July 21.

The attack on the church came a day after the Congolese army and CODECO announced an alliance to fight a new militia known as the CRP, or the Convention for Popular Revolution.

In the attack, the tabernacle was violated, consecrated Hosts spilled, the Marian shrine vandalized, and sacred and liturgical objects destroyed.

‘Deliberate Desecration of Catholic Church’

“This serious and deliberate desecration of the Catholic church in Lopa is part of a series of violent attacks announced and claimed by the CODECO spokesperson in the trading centers of Lopa and Nizi,” said Bishop Dieudonné Uringi Uuci of Bunia in a July 26 statement, which also expressed great sorrow and dismay at the attack. “It can be recalled that since 2017, this militia has been responsible for numerous gruesome atrocities against Church facilities, members of the clergy, and pastoral workers.”

These latest attacks are part of the deadly cycle of conflict that has unfolded for decades in the provinces of Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu of eastern Congo, a mineral-rich region the size of Western Europe. Fueling the conflict is an intricate mix of regional politics, ethnic and national rivalries, and a fight for control of the mineral resources, according to analysts.

In the July 28 statement, ACN said: “ACN urges all parties to strive to protect civilians and places of worship in the Democratic Republic of Congo and calls on its friends and benefactors to pray for the victims of this horrific attack, and for peace to finally arrive in this African country.”

This article was written Fredrick Nzwili , reporting from Nairobi, Kenya for OSV News.

Featured image: Father Aime Lokana Dhego sprinkles holy water on caskets during a funeral Mass in Komanda, in Congo’s province of Ituri, July 28, 2025, for victims of a horrific attack on the Catholic church in Komanda, where at least 43 faithful were shot or killed with machetes during an overnight vigil in the church July 27. (OSV News photo/courtesy Father Justin Zanamuzi)