NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      ROME (CWNews.com) - At least 500 people are dead in the Democratic Republic of the Congo after a New Years Day massacre by rebels, according to the MISNA Catholic news agency on Tuesday.

      MISNA reported that the victims include women, children, and the elderly from the village of Makobola in eastern Congo. Father Giulo Albanese said, "We are receiving little by little the names. Counting has not ended. There are roughly 500 dead. They were killed with machetes, shot. It's something unbelievable." The killings come just one day after government soldiers retook other towns in the region in a major offensive.

      The report said the dead belonged to varying ethnic groups but were all Christians, including the pastor of the local Protestant church. According to MISNA sources, the killers were Banyamulenge ethnic Tutsis and the massacre was a reprisal for an attack the previous day by local Mai-Mai warriors.