Pope Visits Conflict-Ridden Central Africa, First Stop DR Congo

He said that “armed battles and exploitation” were going on in the DR Congo, and he said that South Sudan, which had been in conflict for years, wanted it to stop.

Tuesday marked the start of Pope Francis’ fifth trip to Africa. He flew to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and then to South Sudan to make peace appeals in those two violent countries.

At 8:28 local time, the 86-year-old pope boarded the papal aircraft using an elevator at Rome’s Fiumicino Airport (7:28 GMT). The pontiff is expected to arrive at the Ndjili airport in Kinshasa at 3 p.m. local time, where tens of thousands of fans will be waiting to greet him.

A pope is making his first trip to the DRC since 1985, which has around 100 million citizens and a Catholic majority of 40%.

The pontiff was supposed to go to the DRC and South Sudan for six days in July 2022, but the trip was put off because of his knee problem, which has forced him to use a wheelchair recently.

Due to safety concerns, the Vatican gave up on a plan to visit Goma in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where many armed groups are active.

Following Sunday’s Angelus prayer in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis said, “I greet with affection those cherished people who await me.”

“These countries, which are in the middle of Africa’s huge continent, have been hurt badly by long-lasting wars.”

He said that “armed battles and exploitation” were going on in the DR Congo, and he said that South Sudan, which had been in conflict for years, wanted it to stop.

Two-thirds of the population of the DRC lives on less than $2.15 a day, despite the country’s enormous mineral resources, and violence wracks the eastern regions.

The Tutsi-led armed group M23 has been taking over large areas of land in the North Kivu province. Kinshasa says that neighboring Rwanda is helping the group.

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ADF is a group that the Islamic State says is one of its allies. It has been blamed for a string of terrible attacks in the area, including the bombing of a Pentecostal church this month, which killed 14 people.

Following a welcome ceremony at the Kinshasa airport, President Felix Tshisekedi will welcome Francis to the presidential palace.

The Argentine pope will then make the first of 12 speeches he will make during the trip. He will talk to government officials, diplomats, and people from civil society.

Before the general election in December, Samuel Pommeret of the local branch of the Catholic humanitarian group CCFD-Terre Solidaire said, “He can send a strong message to lawmakers by taking on the issue of corruption.”

Tens of thousands of people are expected to pray at N’dolo airport on Tuesday night before a mass on Wednesday morning, which is expected to draw more than a million people.

Prior to the visit, papal memorabilia was already doing well in Kinshasa, with Elisabeth Akwete, 66, being one of those who purchased a calendar featuring Francis.

She told AFP, “It’s a joy to have the image of the head of the church at home.”

The pope will meet with members of the clergy, nonprofit organizations, and victims of violence while he is in the DRC.

Francis will visit South Sudan’s capital, Juba, on Friday. South Sudan is one of the world’s poorest nations and has seen a series of crises since winning independence in 2011.

It went through a bloody five-year civil war, and people from different ethnic groups still fight with each other today.

Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the head of the Church of Scotland will join the pope in Juba.

“Together, as brothers, we will make an ecumenical pilgrimage of peace, to beseech God and men to put an end to hostilities and for reconciliation,” the pope said on Sunday.