Synod appeals for released of kidnapped Priests

October 24, 2012: The Synod Fathers gathered in the Vatican on Tuesday appealed for the early release of the three missionaries kidnapped in Congo on Friday, without conditions, so they can continue their work of evangelization. The three Catholic priests have been kidnapped in eastern Congo by up to 10 armed gunmen from a monastery near Beni, north of Goma, in North Kivu province.

"We have several lines of investigation to get to find the three religious kidnapped, we must understand which is the right one," said Melchisedec Sikuli Paluku, Bishop of Butembo-Beni (eastern Democratic Republic of Congo), in whose diocese three Assumptionist fathers (Augustinians of the Assumption) were kidnapped.

A report in Fides states that the three priests, Jean-Pierre Ndulani, Anselme Wasikundi and Edmond Bamutute, were kidnapped around 9:00pm on October 19 while in the parish of Notre-Dame des Pauvres in Mbau, 22km from Beni and 70km from the episcopal see of Butembo.

The Kivu region has been the scene of repeated clashes between rebel groups and government forces since 2004. It is believed that many of those responsible for the Rwandan genocide, both Hutu and Tutsi, have taken refuge there while avoiding prosecution and maintaining their rebel organizations. Although since 2009, conflicts with both Hutu and Tutsi factions effectively ended either by absorption of the groups into government as political parties or through armed conflict, these factions have periodically broken their peaceful resolutions and returned to banditry in this area. Although Bishop Sikuli Paluku did not explicitly make these connections nor indicated what he believed to be the motivations behind the abduction, he did confirm that "the parish where the religious were kidnapped is located in an area where there are several armed groups who commit acts of banditry of this kind.”

"We have asked the faithful to pray so that God touches the hearts of the kidnappers and release our fathers." He added that they have also appealed for the police and other security forces to get involved in the search, and to the general public in the area to report any information on the kidnappers' movements.

Last week Fides quoted a report by the UN Mission for the Stabilisation of Congo (MONUSCO) saying that there are more than 30 armed groups operating in the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo, particularly in North Kivu. Most of these groups are made up of a few hundred fighters, while the largest group seems to be that of the Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDLR), which has about 3,000 men.

These groups, in turn, create shifting alliances with the regular Congolese army and its current adversary, the M23, the movement made up of military deserters. The UN recently stated in a report that this group is supported by the governments of Rwanda and Uganda.

The lack of a State authority, capable of ensuring the safety of all and initiating economic development of the region, coupled with the interference of foreign interests, therefore favours the proliferation of armed groups vying for control of the mines of the area.