This file photo taken on January 26, 2001 shows General Joseph Kabila taking the oath of office to succeed his slain father as president of the Democratic Republic of Congo. (FILES) (Desirey Minkoh/AFP/Getty Images)

Mediators urged Congo’s president and opposition parties on Wednesday to reach an agreement before Christmas on a peaceful settlement to the country’s political crisis, saying dozens have been killed this week amid protests over the president’s stay in power.

“Enough is enough,” said Monsignor Marcel Utembi, part of the team of mediators from the Catholic Church. “A solution must be found as soon as possible by all political actors, but in particular by the government, in order to reassure the Congolese people.”

He also conveyed a message from Pope Francis: “I am concerned by what is happening in your country, which I wish to visit at the opportune moment. I pray for the Congolese people, who need peace so much now.”

President Joseph Kabila’s mandate ended this week, and he is constitutionally barred from seeking another term, but a court has ruled that he can remain in power until new elections. The vote once was set for November, but the ruling party now says it won’t be held until 2018.

Anger over the delay has swept the country. A heavy military and police presence remained in the capital, Kinshasa, and across the country Wednesday. The remains of barricades littered the streets after protesters burned the headquarters of the ruling party on Tuesday, the first day after Kabila’s mandate expired.

Reports of the death toll in the chaos varied. Human Rights Watch said security forces killed 26 people. The U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo said it had documented 19 people shot to death, 45 wounded and a “very high number” of arrests in Kinshasa, Lubumbashi, Matadi and Goma.

The government said nine people were killed in the capital. The national police spokesman, Col. Pierrot Mwanamputu, said eight died in Lubumbashi, three in Matadi and two in Boma.

Mwanamputu also said that 275 people had been detained since Kabila’s mandate ended.

Amid the growing frustration, the church-mediated political talks resumed Wednesday after stalling over the weekend.

Utembi stressed that the Catholic Church is not willing to accept unwarranted delays or maneuvering and that if a consensual decision on the political transition isn’t reached by Christmas, “it will draw all the necessary consequences.”

Finding common ground will be difficult. While the ruling party insists that Kabila remain in power until the elections, the opposition coalition says it does not recognize his authority anymore.

The political impasse has fueled fears of widespread unrest in this vast Central African nation, one of the world’s poorest and most unstable countries.