Pope Leo XIV called out the latest attack against Christians in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), calling attention to what he described as a growing global pattern of violence against the faithful.
"In various parts of the world, Christians suffer discrimination and persecution. I think especially of Bangladesh, Nigeria, Mozambique, Sudan, and other countries from which we frequently hear of attacks on communities and places of worship. … I accompany in prayer the families of Kivu, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where in recent days there has been a massacre of civilians. Let us pray that all violence may cease and that believers may work together for the common good," the pope wrote in a statement published on his official X page.
His message came as authorities in the DRC confirmed that at least 17 people were killed, according to The Associated Press, when fighters from the Allied Democratic Forces, a militant group aligned with the Islamic State, stormed a church-run hospital in the village of Byambwe, North Kivu.
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The attackers entered the diocesan health center late Friday night, killing patients in their beds and setting the facility ablaze. Col. Alain Kiwewa, the local administrator, told the Associated Press that "women who were breastfeeding were brutally slaughtered and found with their throats slit in their hospital beds," adding that 11 women and six men were killed.
Vatican News described the scene as "a terrorist attack on civilians," citing accounts from survivors and clergy. Rev. Giovanni Piumatti, an Italian missionary who served more than five decades in the Diocese of Butembo-Beni, told the publication that militants looted medical supplies, set fire to the hospital and destroyed 27 nearby homes.
"This is a typical ADF attack," he said in the Vatican News interview. He added that the ADF fighters "kill mothers as they are breastfeeding their babies," describing a pattern of brutality that he said has become common in the region.
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The ADF, which pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in 2019, has repeatedly targeted Christians, churches and religious facilities across eastern Congo.
An Aug. 6, 2025, Human Rights Watch report said the Allied Democratic Forces "killed more than 40 people, including several children, with guns and machetes during a nighttime church gathering" in Komanda, Ituri province, and noted that in recent years the group has been "implicated in scores of killings and abductions" across eastern Congo.
Vatican News reported that the hospital was operated by the Little Sisters of the Presentation, who provide maternal care and basic surgical services in a region with few functioning medical facilities. Several newborns are believed to have been kidnapped in the attack, according to the Associated Press.
Piumatti condemned what he called the "shameful silence" of the international community, saying that economic interests in North Kivu’s mineral-rich territory have allowed armed groups to flourish.
The Byambwe massacre is the latest in a series of Islamist-linked attacks on the continent, adding new urgency to the pope’s call for global attention to Christian persecution and protection of vulnerable communities.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
