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CV NEWS FEED // The Hungarian State Secretary for the Aid of Persecuted Christians condemned the massacre of at least 70 Christians in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), calling for other countries to join Hungary in supporting the persecuted Christians.
Tristan Azbej’s message spoke out against a mid-February incident in which dozens of missing persons were discovered Feb. 14 tied up and beheaded in a Protestant church in an abandoned DRC village. Azbej said in a Feb. 19 X post that he was “horrified” to learn of the massacre.
“Hungary stands in solidarity with the persecuted Christians BUT we need more … the world needs to recognize and act against Christian persecution,” Azbej wrote.
The Christians in DRC were reportedly hostages of the Allied Defence Forces (ADF), an Islamist rebel group affiliated with ISIS and “the most deadly armed group in the region,” according to The Daily Mirror.
“The dead in the church massacre are understood to be among the dozens of people who have been reported missing since last Wednesday in the village,” The Daily Mirror reported.
According to Open Doors, an organization that monitors levels of Christian persecution around the world, ADF and another rebel group, M23, target Christians through abductions and killings, as well as the destruction of churches, causing “widespread terror, insecurity and displacement” throughout the country. Open Doors noted that the persecution of Christians rose within the past year.
“Coordinated attacks have killed dozens, displaced thousands and left believers living in fear,” Open Doors reported. “Christians in the DRC have faced high levels of violence for several years, but this year the attacks against followers of Jesus have been even more brazen and shocking.”
