DR Congo: Franciscan nun killed

Sr Marie-Claire Kahambu

A Franciscan nun was killed in DR Congo last week. Sr Marie-Claire Kahambu was killed in Bukavu as she worked in her office at a girls' training centre that she was running.

According to Jimmy Ndumba of 'Beni Lubero Online' two men wielding knives, on the afternoon of 29 November, scaled the wall of the Mater Dei Parish, burst into the office of Sr Marie Claire and stabbed her several times before running away with some money belonging to the centre. The attack was described as an"odious crime committed against a peaceful and defenceless servant of God."

Hundreds of furious residents later demonstrated at the parish seeking justice. Two men have since been apprehended and charged with the murder of Sr Marie-Claire. The two have been committed to the Bukavu High Court.

Ironically, as the court case in Bukavu got under way, the Church, was celebrating the feast of Blessed Clementine Anuarite (1940-1964), virgin and martyr of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Blessed Anuarite was killed in Isiro during the Samba rebellion of the 1960s. She is a martyr of chastity and forgiveness, and 1 December is her feast day.

On 20 March 2016, Fr Vincent Machozi was killed in Bukavu. Fr Machozi had started an online publication, 'Beni Lubero' where he posted graphic pictures of victims of the violence in Kivu. Some of the posts identified killers.

It is not just priests and the religious that are a victims of the violence in Congo's Kivu area. The local civilian population bear the brunt of most of the violence, although their stories are reported less often.

Dozens of heavily armed groups are marauding in the area. Some of the militia have links to neighbouring countries. They stoke ethnic rivalries; fight proxy wars and vie for control of Congo's valuable natural resources in the area. There are also criminal gangs allied to or that have links with Congo DR's security forces. The aim of all the senseless violence is to benefit from illegal mining, smuggling and poaching.

Source: Fr Paul Samasumo, Vatican Radio