Pope Francis arrives in strife-torn Democratic Republic of Congo

By James Tasamba

KIGALI, Rwanda (AA) – Pope Francis arrived in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Tuesday, the first leg of his fourth journey to Africa which will also take him to South Sudan.

He is the second pope to visit the strife-torn, Catholic country since John Paul II's visit in 1985.

In the capital Kinshasa, he headed to the presidential palace, where he was scheduled to hold a private conversation with President Felix Tshisekedi.

The two are expected to address about 1,000 people including political and religious leaders, representatives of civil society groups and the foreign diplomatic corps.

According to the Vatican, the motto for Francis’ visit is “Tous réconcilié en Jésus Christ” (All reconciled in Jesus Christ).

Monsignor Marcel Utembi, archbishop of Kisangani and president of the National Episcopal Conference of Congo, said “it is a call to the Congolese to reconcile with God and among themselves, especially the political actors.”

The pope is expected to call for an end to the violence that has killed millions in the past two decades. Eastern Congo remains volatile with about 5.7 million people internally displaced amid food insecurity, according to the UN.

The visit was postponed from July 2021, after the pope’s doctors advised against it due to health concerns.

Before concluding his visit on Feb. 3, Francis is expected to meet victims of violence from the volatile eastern Congo to hear their testimonies, address thousands of young people as well as representatives of charity organizations.

On Wednesday, Pope Francis is scheduled to preside an open-air mass expected to be attended by roughly 1.5 million people at N’Dolo Airport, Kinshasa’s secondary airport.

Sylvano Kasongo, the provincial police chief of Kinshasa, said 7,500 police officers will be deployed at the airport for security. According to Vatican statistics, almost half of the 95 million people are Catholics.

Since his election in 2013, Francis has made four trips to the continent and visited eight countries.