Francis, 86, claims that a “hidden genocide” is happening in the DRC as he starts his journey through two African countries.
Pope Francis, who recently arrived in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as part of a trip to two African countries, has warned that Western nations cease stealing Africa’s natural resources for the “poison of their own greed.”
Since Pope John Paul II visited the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1985, when it was still known as Zaire, Pope Francis, 86, is the only pope to make such a trip.
Francis blamed Belgium and other colonial powers for the exploitation of the Congo, a nation 80 times the size of Belgium, before it achieved independence in 1960. He added that neighbouring nations currently play a similar role.
The 86-year-old said there was a “forgotten genocide” going on but avoided mentioning Belgium or any other neighbouring nations by name.
Francis remarked, “The venom of avarice has stained its diamonds with blood.”
“May the world recognise the terrible deeds committed throughout history to the detriment of the native peoples, and not forget this nation and this continent.”
From Kinshasa, Al Jazeera’s Malcolm Webb said that hundreds, if not thousands, of people followed the pope’s parade of motorbikes to the presidential palace.
The various Catholic-operated church schools that are run over here in Congo were lined up along the highways, he said.
It is because of this that the Catholic Church is such a prominent organisation in this country (the Congo), said Webb, that “the Catholic church runs around 60% of the health and education services here.”
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Roman Catholics make up about half of Congo’s 90 million population.
Francis’s knee issues, which were still so severe on Tuesday that he could not stand to greet journalists in the plane flying to Kinshasa and was forced to use a wheelchair on the ground, forced him to postpone the six-day trip, which also includes a stop in South Sudan. The original departure date for the trip was supposed to be in July 2022.
According to the World Food Programme, 5.7 million people have been displaced by the war, a sixth of them only last year.
Rwanda is charged by Congo with supporting the M23 rebel group that is battling government forces in the east. This is denied by Rwanda.
Just before the pope took the podium, Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi said, “Along with armed militias, international forces greedy for the minerals in our soil perpetrate, with the direct and cowardly help of our neighbour Rwanda, horrific atrocities.”
The pope stated that the Congolese people were resisting “deplorable attempts to split the country” in order to maintain their national unity. In his talk, the pope avoided mentioning Rwanda or taking a side in the conflict.
Francis will meet with a team from the east in Kinshasa for a private meeting at the Vatican embassy on Wednesday rather than travelling to Goma.
SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES AND AL JAZEERA
