Melchisedec Sikuli Paluku

Melchisedec Sikuli Paluku (born 27 January 1952) is a Congolese Catholic prelate who is the bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Butembo-Beni in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since 3 April 1998. Before that, from 21 August 1978 until he was appointed bishop, he was a priest of that same Roman Catholic diocese. He was appointed bishop on 3 April 1998 by Pope John Paul II. He was consecrated and installed at Butembo/Beni on 2 August 1998.

Background and priesthood He was born on 27 January 1952 in Lukanga, Diocese of Butembo-Beni, North Kivu, in the DR Congo. He studied philosophy and theology at seminary. He was ordained a priest of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Butembo-Beni on 21 August 1978. He served as priest until 3 April 1998.

The bishop has taken a firm stance against the ongoing violence in the area covered by his diocese, publishing a statement in June 2024 lamenting the killings “of a peaceful population, left without defence and without security”, the abduction of persons “without a single trace of any of them” and the rape of girls and women. He called on government authorities "to end the Calvary of the Congolese people in general, and the population of the Diocese of Butembo-Beni in particular, a Calvary which has lasted too long in this martyred region".

The bishop spoke out again in September 2025 following a massacre in Ntoyo, allegedly carried out by the ADF. "To all the families affected by this umpteenth and horrible carnage and to all the faithful of the parish, we express our spiritual closeness. May God, the Master of Life, strengthen us through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, consoler of the afflicted, and lead us beyond the desert of present-day suffering to lasting peace".