Butembo-Beni, 23 May, 2021 / 4:00 pm (ACI Africa).
The Bishop of Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) Butembo-Beni Diocese has denounced terror attacks and far-reaching human rights violations that seem to target Christians in the East of the country, a region covered by his episcopal see.
In a report published by the Pontifical Charity Organization, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) International, Bishop Melchisedec Sikuli Paluku says that the number of terror attacks seem, “particularly high in the Northern part of our Diocese. Armed groups are destroying schools and hospitals.”
“They are even killing the sick as they lie in their hospital beds. Not a day goes by without people being killed,” Bishop Paluku laments in the ACN report shared with ACI Africa Thursday, May 20.
The Congolese Bishop adds, “Many have watched as their parents were killed. There are many orphans and widows. Villages have been burned to the ground. We are in a state of utter misery.”
He continues, “Public life has come to a standstill out of fear of terrorist attacks and to protest at the collapse of the government.”