More than 43 civilians, including nine children, were killed after Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) terrorists, who are affiliated with ISIS, attacked the Catholic Parish of Blessed Anuarite during a prayer vigil early Sunday morning.

During the early hours of July 27, as many Congolese faithful were gathered in the church for an all-night prayer vigil, ADF terrorists stormed the parish and brutally slaughtered dozens of congregants with machetes before burning parts of the church as well as the victims’ bodies while kidnapping others, per a United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) report. The terrorists also looted and burned several nearby homes and businesses.

“These targeted attacks against (defenseless) civilians, particularly in places of worship, are not only appalling but also in violation of all human rights standards and international humanitarian law,” Deputy MONUSCO chief Vivian van de Perre said in response to the attack.

40 Christians were SLAUGHTERED by ISIS linked terrorists while they worshipped at church on Sunday in Komanda.

Please Pray for Christians in Congo. pic.twitter.com/X9moY7e7vz

— Faraz Pervaiz (@FarazPervaiz3) July 28, 2025

Pope Leo XIV expressed his “deep sorrow” for the devastating attack on the church in a July 28 telegram to Archbishop Samuel Stephen Kaziimba Mugalu, president of the Congolese Bishops’ Conference, written by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin on the pontiff’s behalf.

READ: Pope Leo calls for peace, prayer after 200 Christians slaughtered in Nigeria

“His Holiness Pope Leo XIV learned with dismay and deep sorrow of the attack perpetrated against the Parish of Blessed Anuarite in Komanda, which caused the death of several faithful gathered for worship,” the telegram read.

Muslim militants killed over 30 Catholics in an attack on a church in eastern Congo last night.

Pope Leo wrote today to “implore God that the blood of these martyrs may be a seed of peace, reconciliation, fraternity, and love for all the Congolese people”… pic.twitter.com/I8XncYwXYA

— Michael Haynes 🇻🇦 (@MLJHaynes) July 28, 2025

“May the blood of these martyrs become a seed of peace, reconciliation, fraternity, and love for the Congolese people,” the statement continued.

The Allied Democratic Forces are a radical Islamist terrorist group that formed in Uganda in the 1990s with the goal of overthrowing the Ugandan government and replacing it with an Islamic one based on Sharia Law. The ADF has since expanded its attacks into the Congo and became affiliated with ISIS in 2019.

Indeed, Sunday’s attack is not the Islamist group’s first atrocious attack on civilians this year. In February, the ADF attacked the Congolese village of Maiba, taking about 100 civilians hostage. A few days later, more than 70 bodies, including many belonging to women, children, and the elderly, were discovered in a Protestant church.

READ: Nigeria, 3 other African countries are deadliest for Christians: report

A recent Global Christian Relief Red List (GRC) report stated that the DRC is the second “deadliest country for Christians” behind only Nigeria. The report emphasized that “390 Christians were recorded as killed” during the reporting period from November 2022 to 2024 and specifically singled out “Islamic militant groups like the Allied Democratic Forces” as the “main killers.”