A Catholic bishop from Mozambique has described the "painful" suffering of Christian communities attacked by extremist militias responsible for thousands of deaths in a conflict that has no end in sight.

Bishop António Juliasse of Pemba Diocese told Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) that as soon as it became possible to visit Christians targeted by Islamist terrorists in regions affected by the armed conflict, he "departed immediately".

Bishop Juliasse wrote that he "managed to celebrate Mass and administer the Sacrament of Confirmation in the parish of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in Nangololo," Independent Catholic News' Amy Balog wrote on Aug. 29.

Nangololo Mission is in the Muidumbe district in the Cabo Delgado province in northern Mozambique, not far from the border of Tanzania, which was attacked, occupied, and devastated by armed groups.

There the faithful gathered around the ruins of a church that "had been destroyed and vandalized" during attacks from 2020 many caarried out by Jihaidsts, according to reports.

He explained, "Everywhere I went, we celebrated Mass this way, in the open, among the ruins of the churches... It is very painful to see the ruins of buildings that were an expression of people's faith for so long.

"Now, not much is left besides the wreckage."

ONGOING VIOLENT CLASHES

Violent clashes between insurgents seeking to establish a hard-line Islamic state and the Mozambique Defence Armed Forces have been ongoing in Cabo Delgado Province, northern Mozambique since October 2017.

More than 5,000 people have died, and hundreds of thousands have been displaced as a result of the fighting.

The bishop told ACN: "Everywhere there is fear and uncertainty about the future. There is still great suffering. Many people live in camps for the internally displaced, though with less humanitarian assistance nowadays.

"Without safety, people are afraid to go and work their fields, which are often a few kilometers away from the villages, as they are afraid of being attacked."

He said that food "production is low" because of the fear of further attacks, "which leads to hunger because people don't produce enough food, and also because the other services don't work properly."

Save the Children reported on July 3 that an escalation of violence in Cabo Delgado province was driving up cases of early and forced marriage with girls abducted and forced into marriage by armed groups or by families seeking a dowry.

Child protection staff from Save the Children have found an increase of 10 percent in recorded cases of children marriage in 2023 compared to the previous year with fears the numbers are rising further as the conflict cuts children off from the protection and support needed.

More and more children are voicing concerns that this could happen to them as the conflict heads toward its eighth year, with no end in sight.

A surge of attacks in Cabo Delgado since January this year has led to school closures putting more than 22,700 children out of the classroom so far this year said Save the Children.

The CIA Factbook says that of Mozambique's 33 million people, more than 40 percent are Christians, with Catholics the most numerous among them in the former Portuguese colony.