Pope Francis calls Mozambique bishop after Islamic militants seize the city

Pope Francis made an unexpected phone call this week to a bishop in northern Mozambique, where militants linked to the Islamic State have taken control of the port city of Mocimboa da Praia.

“Today… to my surprise and joy I received a call from His Holiness Pope Francis which comforted me very much. He said that… he is following the events in our province with great concern and that he has prayed for us. He also told me that if there was anything else he could do, we should not hesitate to ask him ”, wrote Mgr. Luiz Fernando Lisboa on a diocesan web page.

Lisboa leads the diocese of Pemba in Mozambique, located in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, a region that has experienced an escalation of extremist violence with numerous churches burned, people beheaded, girls kidnapped and more than 200.000 displaced by the violence.

Pope Francis called the bishop on August 19 after the Islamic State said it took two military bases near the port city of Cabo Delgado Mocimboa da Praia.

"I told him about the difficult situation in Mocimboa da Praia, which was taken by the insurgents, and that there was no contact with the diocese for a week by two sisters of the Congregation of Saint Joseph of Chambéry who worked there," Lisboa said.

The bishop said the pope was saddened by this news and promised to pray for this intention.

Mozambique's defense minister said at a press conference on Mocimboa da Praia on August 13 that Islamist militants had "attacked the city from within, causing destruction, looting and killing of defenseless citizens."

Government troops attempted to recapture the port, which is also the logistical point of a multi-billion dollar natural gas project, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Bishop Lisboa said Pope Francis encouraged him to contact Cardinal Michael Czerny, the undersecretary of the migrant and refugee section of the Vatican dicastery for promoting integral human development, for help with humanitarian assistance.

According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, more than 1.000 people have been killed in attacks in northern Mozambique since 2017. Some of these attacks have been claimed by the Islamic State, while others have been carried out by the militant extremist group Ahlu Sunna Wal, which kidnapped men and women.

During this year's Holy Week, rebels carried out attacks on seven towns and villages in the province of Cabo Delgado, burning a church on Good Friday and killing 52 young people who refused to join the terrorist group, Lisboa told Aid to the Church in Need.

The bishop noted in April that extremists had already burned five or six local chapels, as well as some mosques. He said the historic mission of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Nangolo was also attacked this year.

In June, there were reports that the insurgents had beheaded 15 people in one week. Yet the bishop said that the crisis in Mozambique was widely received with "indifference" by the rest of the world.

"The world still has no idea what is happening because of indifference," Monsignor Lisboa said in an interview with the Portuguese media on 21 June.

"We still don't have the solidarity that should be there," he told LUSA news agency.