Panic swept through eastern Congo’s second-largest city on Saturday as residents fled by the thousands, scrambling to escape the looming advance of Rwanda-backed rebels. The morning after M23 fighters entered the outskirts of Bukavu — a city of about 1.

Representatives of Congo's powerful Catholic church met on Wednesday with a rebel leader whose Rwandan-backed M23 forces last month seized Goma, the biggest city in the country's east, and have continued advancing south.

Congo’s largest church organizations have met with Rwanda-backed rebels in the country’s east to advocate for peace and dialogue after weekslong fighting