Seventy Christians were found dead in a church in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) last week — reportedly beheaded at the hands of radical Islamic terrorists.
Christian group Open Doors, which supports persecuted Christians around the world, said that terrorists from the rebel Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), which has ties to the Islamic State, surrounded a village in Mayba in the territory of Lubero last Thursday, taking 20 men and women captive. The Islamic terrorists later returned and kidnapped 50 more Christians in the village and took them to a Protestant church in Kasanga, where they were brutally killed.
Open Doors said that, according to “field sources,” families were still waiting to bury their dead loved ones as of Tuesday while many Christians fled the area for safety.
“We don’t know what to do or how to pray; we’ve had enough of massacres,” said an elder of the CECA20 church in DRC. “May God’s will alone be done.”
As of Thursday afternoon, the massacre of Christians in DRC has received no coverage in the legacy media. Tristan Azbej, the Hungarian State Secretary for the Aid of Persecuted Christians, acknowledged the mass killing of Christians in DRC and urged world leaders to “recognize and act against Christian persecution.”
“Horrified to learn about the 70 Christian martyrs beheaded by terrorists in a church in Kasanga, DRC,” Azbej wrote on X. “Hungary stands in solidarity with the persecuted Christians BUT we need more … the world needs to recognize and act against Christian persecution.”
Jeff King, the president of persecution watchdog International Christian Concern, told The Christian Post, “This recent massacre, where 70 Christians lost their lives, is not an isolated incident but part of a grim tapestry of violence that has claimed over 6 million lives in the DRC over two decades of on-and-off war.”
“The vast majority of the DRC’s residents are Christian, so this is a religious genocide carried out by radical Islamic terrorists (the ADF),” King added.
DRC has long faced instability and war as factions and rebel groups wrestle for control of multiple regions. Another rebel group, M23, has recently captured key cities in DRC as the Congolese government struggles to push back. Over 100,000 people have been displaced in the recent fighting, according to the United Nations.
According to Open Doors, 355 Christians in DRC were killed in 2024 for their faith, an increase from 261 in 2023.
