Pope Francis begins his apostolic journey to Africa this week. He is going to the Democratic Republic of Congo this Tuesday, January 31, then to South Sudan on Friday.
Pope Francis’s arrival in Kinshasa is eagerly awaited when he was supposed to go there last July, his trip had been postponed for health reasons according to the Vatican. He will not go to Goma in the East because of the conflict, to the great disappointment of the population’s victims of the attacks in the region. A visit a few months before the presidential election to be held in December.
There are many expectations in this country of 110 million inhabitants, more than 40% of whom are Catholics – which makes it the largest pool of Catholics in Africa, while evangelical churches or churches of revival are multiplying.
It is also a country rich in biodiversity and minerals, particularly in the East, which arouses the greed of many armed groups, with tensions which have risen again a notch in recent days, especially over the past year with new offensives by the M23, this armed group accused of being supported by neighboring Rwanda.
During his trip scheduled for July, the pope was to go to Goma in North Kivu, where the M23 movement is increasing its offensives. For security reasons, this step has been removed, a great disappointment for the populations of the East who are suffering from the violence, but François will receive a delegation of around sixty victims and displaced persons and should launch an appeal to stop the war. This visit also comes in an election year, the pope could plead for a good organization of the elections scheduled for December.