10 Roman Catholic priests arrested in protests in Congo

Protests against the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo have resulted in the arrest of 10 Catholic priests — a sign of the government’s willingness to defy church authorities at the forefront of the movement to oust its authoritarian leader.

The protests against President Joseph Kabila on Sunday (Jan. 21), called by the church’s Lay Coordination Committee, began after Mass and resulted in clashes in which six people were killed and more than 100 wounded, according to the United Nations.

“The church deplores the excessive use of force on demonstrators who were only armed with Bibles, rosaries and branches,” said Abbé Donatien Nshole, the secretary general of the National Episcopal Conference of Congo, in a statement to RNS.

Two nuns have also been reported missing, and more than 200 people arrested.

One of those who died was a 16-year-old girl standing by a church door, AFP reported.

Congolese authorities had banned the protests. Internet access in Kinshasa, the country’s capital, was cut the day before.

In protests in late December, at least seven people were killed, and altar boys were arrested.

Roman Catholic bishops brokered the agreement in which Kabila, in power since 2001, had agreed to step down. That was supposed to have happened more than a year ago.

The Roman Catholic Church is powerful in the country, but the protests were also supported by many evangelical and other churches, and Muslim leaders.

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