CNS PHOTO | KENNY KATOMBE, REUTERS Congolese soldiers guard suspected M23 rebel fighters who surrendered near Goma, Congo, Nov. 5.

The Catholic Church rejoiced at the end of a yearlong military campaign in North Kivu by the defeated rebels of the M23 movement, but made it clear that much remains to be done to consolidate that peace.

In a Nov. 9 tour around areas held only days before by the rebels, Bishop Theophile Kaboyi Ruboneka of Goma called on citizens to work hard to consolidate a peace that was “acquired at the price of blood,” referring especially to the last offensive, which ended Nov. 5.

“We are thankful to God that this nightmare has ended,” Kaboyi told the UN-run Radio Okapi.

“Now, as we are condemned to live together, we must be reconciled.”