Francis sat in silence as victim after victim came forward to tell their stories. He watched as they offered up at the foot of a crucifix a symbol of their pain: the machete used to maim and kill, or the straw bed mat on which they had been raped. When they knelt in front of him for a blessing, Francis placed his hand on their heads, or on the stumps of the arms that remained.
Despite being home to one of the largest U. Francis had originally planned to visit the eastern province of North Kivu, where rebel groups have intensified attacks in the past year, when his trip was initially scheduled for July. But after the trip was rescheduled, the Vatican had to cancel the visit to Goma due to the fighting that has forced some 5.
Ladislas Kambale Kombi, from the Beni area of eastern North Kivu province, told Francis of watching as men in military uniforms decapitated his father, placed his head in a basket and then took off with his mother, whom he never saw again. Bijoux Makumbi Kamala, 17, told of being kidnapped in by rebels in Walikale, in North Kivu province as she went to fetch water.
The Associated Press usually does not identify victims of sexual violence, but those who told their stories to Francis gave their names in public at the start of their testimony.
She said she was raped daily by five to 10 men who then forced their captives to eat the flesh of the men they had killed, mixed with animal meat and maize paste.
