Diocese of Bunia
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bunia is a diocese located in the city of Bunia in the ecclesiastical province of Kisangani in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It was established on 10 November 1959. The diocese is home to Cathedral Notre-Dame des Grâces, in Bunia.
History
The area first was established as the Apostolic Prefecture of Lake Albert from the Apostolic Vicariate of Stanley Falls and the Apostolic Vicariate of Uganda in Uganda on 27 June 1922. It was later promoted to an Apostolic Vicariate on 11 December 1933. On 10 November 1959, it was promoted once more to the Diocese of Bunia. The Diocese lost territory to establish the Diocese of Mahagi on 2 July 1962.In 2024, two churches in the Ituri Province of the diocese were desecrated by a rebel group in search of money.
In the early hours of 27 July 2025 a massacre took place in Komanda, in the parish of Bienheureuse Anuarite, killing dozens of mostly young people who were participating in a vigil. The attack was carried out by the ADF according to local sources. According to Fr Marcelo Oliveira, a Portuguese Comboni missionary in the country, "the attack occurred at around 01:00 in the morning. The rebels entered the church and murdered a large number of children, both inside the church building and in the compound. We continue to pray for peace in this immense country and to ask for the grace of peace", he told Aid to the Church in Need. The bishop of Bunia accused the local authorities of inaction. "The police and the military were not far away, but they did not act in time. They should have intervened more quickly to protect the population”, he told ACN.