Last weekend's anti-government protests in the capital city of Kinshasa saw four people shot dead.

The United Nations mission in Congo says 47 people were wounded and over 100 arrested in the Sunday protests.

The casualties and arrests occurred two days after Pope Francis called for a worldwide day of prayer and fasting for peace in the DRC.

Many demonstrations occurred in and around Catholic churches.

Some priests held protests within the parameters of their parish grounds to minimise violence.

"Security forces blocked the roads around the churches. They came in and threw tear gas canisters into churches. They used live ammunition," Father Jean Claude Tabu, Curate of the St. Benoît Parish in the north of Kinshasa, says.

This is the third round of demonstrations organized by the Catholic Lay Committee. Previous protests on 31 December and 21 January left over a dozen dead.

"I note with sorrow and deep concern the loss of life and injuries that occurred at the hands of those who are supposed to protect life and the rule of law.

"I add my voice to that of the Holy Father in his call for calm and peace in the country," Archbishop Timothy Broglio, chair of U.S. Bishops' Committee on International Justice and Peace, wrote on 14 February to the DRC bishops.

Since December, when Kabila again refused to step down, the church and a spiritual group called the Lay Coordination Committee have organised three protests. All have resulted in deaths and have ended violently.

Kabila's refusal to step down has aggravated violence between government forces and multiple armed groups in other areas of the country.

The Catholic church in the DRC has consistently advocated for free and fair elections.

The Congolese Catholic Bishops' Conference has called upon Kabila to confirm he will not run for an illegal third term as president.

He was supposed to leave office in December 2016, but elections have been continually postponed.

Mass atrocities have been carried out in the DRC, killing and displacing thousands in the last few years.

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• The Catholic Register
• Business Insider
• Image: eNCA

They say the Church's only concern is to contribute to the welfare of the entire Congolese people.

Pope Francis has also raised his voice about the ongoing tensions, asking the international Catholic community to pray and fast for the DRC.

Many DRC citizens prayed for peace last Friday at a special Mass at the capital Kinshasa, ahead of a march planned for Sunday.

The march was organised by the Catholic Church.

Their prayers were offered in the knowledge that security forces had killed about a dozen protesters in demonstrations in December and January.

Tensions escalated on Saturday as hundreds of ruling party supporters stormed Kinshasa cathedral, after the march was forbidden by the country's authorities.

"We have come to take possession of Our Lady of the Congo Cathedral to take part in Sunday mass... and defend the homeland," said Papy Pungu, youth wing leader of the People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD).

He said he and other ruling party supporters would be spending the night at the cathedral.

Witnesses said the arrival at the cathedral of the PPRD supporters, many wearing red berets, sowed panic in the capital's northern Lingwala municipality.

"They arrived aboard several Transco (public transport) buses and stormed the shrine of the Virgin. It's a provocation," local parishioner Felicite Mbula told AFP.

"The church is closed, we couldn't hold mass this evening," she added.

Antoine Bokoka, a parish official, said the PPRD were "pretending to come to pray Sunday. But you don't stay overnight in our parishes".

The capital was already on edge after authorities banned the anti-Kabila protest, with two similar rallies having been brutally put down last month.

The Catholic Church is a focal point for opposition to president Joseph Kabila's efforts to stay in power without a mandate.

Kabila's mandate expired in December 2016 but, in an agreement made on 31 December 2016, he was permitted to stay in office beyond the expiry of his mandate.

The agreement required him to step down after an election in 2017, which did not happen.

Congo's electoral commission said the vote could not be organised until December 2018.

Many DRC citizens believe Kabila intends to cling to power.

Kabila denies this and blames the delays on a slow voter registration process.

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• Vatican News
• Africa News
• Daily Nation
• VOA
• Image: National Catholic Reporter