AFRICA/DR CONGO - “We hope the Pope will make an appeal for peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo”

Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) - "We hope the Pope will make an appeal for peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo," write the members of ACMEJ (Association Against Evil and for the Integration of Youth) of Katogota, in the province of South Kivu, in the east of the country.
Recalling that “in his first Sunday blessing from St. Peter's Basilica, the new Pope Leo XIV made a solemn appeal for peace in Ukraine and for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza,” the members of the ACMEJ ask the Holy Father not to forget the tragedy of their homeland, one of the forgotten conflicts that continue to bloody the world. Since the M23 guerrillas, supported by Rwandan soldiers, have conquered vast areas of North and South Kivu—including the regional capitals of Goma and Bukavu—the civilian population has been living in tragic conditions.
According to ACMEJ, the village of Katogota, already the scene of a massacre on May 14, 2000, in which 375 civilians died, has once again been "destroyed, looted, wounded, and bombed by the M23 and its Rwandan allies." "The attackers have illegally occupied the premises of the local Catholic Church of Saint Berger—church, school, and prayer hall—as well as the multipurpose hall of the Katogota community, setting up their camp there and transforming the religious and educational spaces into military accommodation," the statement sent to Fides said.
"The villagers ask Pope Leo XIV to make a new solemn appeal for peace in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, starting with an immediate and effective ceasefire and the creation of a buffer zone in the villages of Katogota and Kamanyola, under the control of military forces sent by the United Nations Security Council or the African Union." According to the ACMEJ, this measure would allow refugees and displaced persons from Katogota to return to their homes more safely, pending a final peace agreement," the human rights organization stated.
The villages of Katogota and Kamanyola are currently on the front line separating the M23 from forces loyal to the Kinshasa government (see Fides, 4/3/2025). The situation has been further aggravated by the Congolese government's recent decision to close banks and airports in areas under M23 control.
The Secretary General of the National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO), Bishop Donatien Nshole, denounced the interruption of these essential services. "The closure of banks and airports in these areas forces many families to survive in particularly precarious conditions," he said on May 19. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 21/5/2025)

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