Islamic extremists in the Congo have forced Catholic sisters to abandon their mission hospitals, leaving thousands of patients without medical care in one of Africa’s most dangerous conflict zones.
Terror Campaign Targets Christian Healthcare Workers
The Allied Democratic Forces have transformed from a regional insurgency into a calculated Islamic extremist organization since pledging allegiance to ISIS in 2019. Their latest victims include Catholic sisters operating mission hospitals in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s eastern provinces. These women religious provide the only healthcare for thousands of civilians trapped in active conflict zones where government services have collapsed.
Father Marcelo Oliveira, a Comboni missionary with extensive Congo experience, confirmed the religious motivation behind these attacks. “We cannot also rule out religious motivation. They are Muslim extremists and are known to attack Christians,” he explained. The pattern reveals systematic persecution rather than random violence, with attackers specifically targeting places of worship and Christian-operated facilities.
Mission Hospital Becomes Massacre Site
The November 14, 2025 attack on Biambwe Referral Health Centre exposed the brutal reality facing religious healthcare workers. Militants stormed the facility and murdered 18 patients receiving medical treatment. Sr. Kasayi Kyakimwa Henriette, Superior General of the Little Sisters of the Presentation of Our Lady, revealed that “our sisters in Biambwe narrowly escaped death while they were there caring for the sick.”
Five days after the hospital massacre, the religious congregation announced the temporary withdrawal of all sisters from the Biambwe facility and nearby Muhangi station. This decision eliminates critical healthcare services for remote communities with no alternative medical options. The sisters’ departure represents a strategic retreat acknowledging that security conditions exceed acceptable risk levels for continued humanitarian operations.
Pattern of Escalating Religious Persecution
The July 27, 2025 massacre at Blessed Marie-Clémentine Anuarite Nengapeta Catholic Church in Komanda demonstrated the terrorists’ methodology. Attackers used “guns and machetes, setting the church ablaze and slaughtering those in the pews,” according to the Orthodox Public Affairs Committee. The commercial hub location made it “an easy target of the Congolese militias due to its geographical location and economic significance.”
Earlier incidents reinforce the systematic nature of these attacks. In February 2025, militants killed approximately 70 people in a Protestant church in Maiba, North Kivu province. Local sources reported that residents live in constant fear because “the terrorists have local collaborators who facilitate their operations.” This intelligence network enables coordinated strikes against religious institutions across multiple provinces.
International Response Acknowledges Genocide Patterns
The Vatican expressed “deep sorrow” through Cardinal Pietro Parolin’s official statement, while UN Deputy Special Representative Vivian van de Perre characterized the attacks as violations of “all human rights standards and international law.” These diplomatic responses acknowledge what local Christians experience daily: organized persecution designed to eliminate Christian presence from contested territories.
The withdrawal of Catholic sisters from mission hospitals represents more than a tactical retreat. It signals the success of terrorist strategy to destroy Christian social infrastructure through targeted violence. When healthcare workers flee, entire communities lose access to medical services, education programs, and pastoral care that religious organizations have provided for generations in these remote areas.
Sources:
Vatican News – DRC Kivu massacre North Kivu sisters hospital