After taking Goma by M23, assumptionists call for solidarity

“Already in 2024, the city of Goma was surrounded by the M23 rebels. We knew that one day or the other, they were going to take this city, we lived in fear, ”testifies a assumptionist priest of the congregation of the Augustins of the Assumption (owner of Pilgrim). The religious, returning to France, spent a year in the DRC until December 2024. He officiated in a parish of this diocese, where he deplores “constant insecurity for twenty years. »»

Behind the fall of Goma, he points to an endless mineral war. “The militias take the mining wealth of this region to the detriment of the Congolese,” he said. Gold and Coltan are very coveted by neighboring countries, especially by Rwanda.

“The villages fell one after the other. The displaced who fled to the fighting. There are thousands of wounded and families decimated by lost bullets, ”says the assumptionist priest. At least 787 people have been killed in the past two weeks in this big city in Kivu and around 3000 others are injured, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced.

In a message published on January 27, Mgr Willy Ngumbi, bishop of Goma, called “to absolute respect for human life and private and public infrastructure.” He firmly condemned “the bombardment, among others of the neonatology department of the Maternal Charité Général Hospital, causing the death of newborns, and that of the concession of the diocesan prosecutor.”

Populations live in misery

Families have nothing. They face the lack of food, the wounded and the corpses that saturate the Morgues. “Since the takeover of M23, life has difficulty has resulted in Goma, the concern remains. Many stores, shops have been robbed and ransacked, ”says the religious, in permanent connection with his community there. Humanitarian aid has not been spared either. The warehouse of the Global Food Program in Goma has been looted, threatening the food security of the inhabitants.

Since February 2, the displaced people have been allowed to return to their villages. “But most often their houses are destroyed, the children are lost because of the war, they no longer go to school,” he adds.

A humanitarian “ceasefire”

The M23 rebels announced this Monday evening decree “a cease-fire” from this Tuesday, February 4 “for humanitarian reasons.” The armed group said that he had “no intention to take control of Bukavu or other localities.” According to witnesses on site, the humanitarian ceasefire would not have been respected, however: this Wednesday, February 5, the rebels took control of Nyabibwe, a strategic city in South Kivu, located 100 km from Bukavu in South Kivu province.

Last week, he threatened to “continue walking” to the Congolese capital Kinshasa. This weekend, a meeting is planned between Congolese presidents Félix Tshisekedi and Rwandan Paul Kagame. In this conflict, half a dozen ceasefies and truces were declared between the two parties, before being systematically broken.

The essential role of the Church in the DRC

The Catholic Church is very anchored in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It manages the networks of hospitals and medical centers. The church is also as close as possible to the Congolese to fight poverty and educate youth.

The members of the clergy are then on the front line of the humanitarian emergency and become targets. Since the start of the conflict, priests and nuns have been murdered or kidnapped.

In October 2012, armed men brutally removed three assumptionist priests in their parish in North Kivu. At first, alleged captors had demanded a ransom, then more track. “Thirteen years later, no one knows if they are alive,” says this community representative. Many other atrocities are not always counted.

“For the first time, the eyes are turned to Goma today,” says this Congolese priest. His assumptionist brothers are engaged in the DRC, as well as more than 500 assumptionists working with the displaced. Today, they launch on their site a call to help populations (to be found here) : “It is an absolute emergency call that we are throwing you. Help us help them.”