War destroys country and Church.

Catholic missionaries have disappeared, churches are looted, infrastructure crumbles, and communication becomes increasingly difficult as the Congo continues to be wracked by civil war.

According to the international Catholic news agency Fides, the situation in the central African country has deteriorated rapidly in the last two years as conflict escalates between the government of President Laurent Kabila and Congolese rebels.

Religious have vanished from the zone controlled by one or other side of the warring factions; the latest known disappearances were of two Italian missionaries in the Kivu region. Meanwhile, Bishop Stanilas Lukumwuena of Kole and his diocesan personnel were forced to flee April 13 from Lodja, when rebels sacked Catholic parishes there. They found refuge in the Kananga diocese after wandering in the jungle for a month. And Bishop Theophile Kaboy of Kasongo was arrested March 13 by government troops along with three White Fathers; since March 21 there has been no word from the government as to the fate of the group, other than that "the file was closed."

Fides also reports that the Church in the Kananga region is in constant danger from attacks by the military. Sr. Albertine Mbuyi of that diocese has reported that "members of the clergy are continually attacked, parish property is stolen, women and children are arbitrarily arrested by members of the Congo armed forces."

The Congolese war pits a number of African nations against each other in a complex labyrinth of alliances and power groups, which virtually ensures there will be no peace for some time. According to an article in The Economist, rebel forces have splintered into two groups, neither of which trusts the other. One group is supported by Uganda, the other by Rwanda. The latter is far more committed to backing the war than is Uganda, as Rwanda is under greater threat from attacks by Hutu rebels across the Congolese frontier.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe and Namibia support Kabila's government and the Rwandan Hutu militias who fight for him. Zimbabwe troops do well from Congo diamond mines clustered around MbujiMayi, which remains the biggest challenge for rebels to take.

Strife also dogs neighbouring Burundi, in which government forces are clashing with rebel guerillas. While peace negotiations are ongoing, there has been an increase in attacks by rebels--the majority of whom are Hums--particularly on national route No.1, the country's main communications line and commercial route to Rwanda and the Congo.

However, the government has expressed optimism for the success of peace negotiations. The last of these began in Arusha, Tanzania, on July 5, and were the fruit of the work over the last year-and-a-half by four commissions, including the "Peace and Security for All" commission headed by Fr. Matteo Zuppi of the St. Egidio Community of Rome, Italy (ZENIT News, July 12 & 18).