(LifeSiteNews) — Sisters in the Congo are in need of your prayers for protection as their area is under siege from the brutal M23 rebel group.
Loud volleys of gunfire can be heard in an audio recording received by LifeSiteNews from a convent in the region of South-Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) bordering Rwanda. An accompanying video shows the sisters, including relatively new postulants, praying to Jesus Christ as they hide in a bathroom during a bout of gunfire, audibly and visibly fearful.
“Contrary to what is being said, M23 is not leaving the DRC,” Sister Mary (her name has been changed for her protection) told LifeSiteNews. The name of the convent and their city of residence are also being kept anonymous for safety reasons.
Sister Mary shared with LifeSiteNews a picture of what she said was a detonated bomb she found nearby.
Fighting in the DRC near the Rwanda border, with the DRC’s army fighting Rwandan forces and M23 rebels allegedly backed by Rwanda, has recently escalated despite peace agreements, including one brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump in late 2025.
The region has seen ongoing conflict since the 1994 Rwandan genocide, in part due to competition for abundant natural resources such as gold and oil. Sister Mary affirmed, “They will not go because of the raw material.”
“People are being killed as animals. M23 does not have mercy, no pity. Once someone disobeys their desire or refuses to satisfy what they want, you are chopped up to death or shot,” Sister Mary said. “People are terrified. Even children are killed.”
“Local soldiers called Wazalendo usually fight with M23. When the rebels are defeated, they kill the population without compassion,” she explained. “There are some families that are still fleeing because they lost members, houses, and possessions, or simply because they worked in government,” Sister Mary noted.
M23 seized control of the provincial capitals in North and South Kivu in early 2025, and from July to August killed hundreds of civilians in eastern DRC’s Rutshuru territory, according to Human Rights Watch and UN News. Other human rights abuses such as torture and sexual violence from M23 rebels have been documented. The group has also been accused of gang rape of women and girls.
Violence has been perpetrated in the region by Islamic extremists as well. In February 2025, 70 Christians were found beheaded in a church in the DRC by ISIS-affiliated Allied Democratic Forces (ADF).
Sister Mary told LifeSiteNews that the sisters usually work outside their convent to fulfill their many apostolates, which aside from prayer include working in schools, hospitals, and orphanages, helping the elderly and the poor, and teaching their children.
“We are afraid; sometimes we don’t move. We have to stay at home for days until the situation is calm,” the sister said. “Things are not going well. Some nights or days because of gun shots we cannot do anything. We are obliged to stay in our houses.”
She added that people who are pushed to search for food are “considered as enemies,” and that “many people are dying” because of the deprivation they endure as they are forced to stay inside.
According to Sister Mary, everyday people are dying in North and South Kivu, and the people cannot hope for help or mediation from countries such as the U.S., because such efforts have thus far failed.
“We beg your prayers,” said Sister Mary, who is hoping that God will put an end to the war.
