Pope Leo on ADF murders in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: “May the blood of martyrs be a seed of peace”

Pope Leo XIV has conveyed his sadness at the killing of forty-three citizens in the Ituri Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Sunday, July 27, many of whom were attending a church service.

The attack occurred at a Catholic church in Komanda, Irumu area, Ituri Province, and was carried out by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF-NALU), a terrorist armed group with ties to Islamic State that operates in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Five more people were slain in a nearby town, and at least 38 people—including women and children—were confirmed dead in the church.

The Pope wrote in a statement that was published by Vatican News:

“May these martyrs’ blood serve as a seed for love, peace, reconciliation, and fraternity among the Congolese people.”

Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin sent the following message on behalf of the Pope to Archbishop Mugalu, President of the Congolese Bishops’ Conference:

His Holiness Pope Leo XIV was shocked and deeply saddened to learn of the attack on the Parish of Blessed Anuarite in Komanda, which claimed the lives of multiple worshippers.

“It is even more urgent that we work for the integral human development of the martyred population of that region,” he continued.

Based in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, the ADF is an Islamist rebel organization from Uganda. Both the US and the Ugandan government view it as a terrorist organization.

The ADF has been active in the Congo’s North Kivu province, which is close to the Ugandan border, since the late 1990s. It has attacked civilians on Congolese and Ugandan soil at different points in time.

Among its most recent attacks, the ADF was once again blamed for the deaths of at least 20 civilians in the Beni region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in October of last year, and between 10 and 15 civilians were killed there in mid-April.