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Kinshasa (AFP) – Received with fervor, Pope Francis arrived in Kinshasa on Tuesday for a four-day visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in the first leg of his trip to Africa that will also take him to South Sudan.
The Pope’s plane, which had taken off from Rome at 08:28 (0728 GMT), landed at 14:35 (13:35 GMT) at the international airport of Kinshasa, capital of the largest Catholic country on the continent.
At mid-morning, in front of the airport, a crowd formed eager to see Francis in the popemobile, which will take him to the center of the city, some 25 km away.
“I didn’t want to miss this opportunity to see him in front,” Maggie Kayembe, in her 30s, told AFP. “Wherever he goes, he always prays for peace, and peace is what we really need,” added the woman.
Initially scheduled for July 2022, the visit had to be postponed due to knee pain suffered by Francisco, 86, who uses a wheelchair, as well as security problems in Goma, in the northeast of the country. stage that was cancelled.
“We have been waiting for a year, it is a beautiful trip, I would have liked to go to Goma but, because of the war, I can’t,” Jorge Bergoglio told the journalists who accompanied him on the plane.
The Argentine pontiff wishes for his 40th international trip to bring a message of peace and reconciliation to this country plagued by violence and misery.
Against violence and exploitation
In the DRC, with approximately 100 million inhabitants, two-thirds of whom live on less than $2.15 a day, the pontiff will speak “of the armed confrontations and exploitation” suffered by this country rich in natural resources, but with an impoverished population, according to the same pope in advance in the Sunday angelus.
The African country has been facing for months the resurgence of the M23 armed group, which has conquered large swaths of the territory of North Kivu, a province bordering Rwanda, which the DRC government accuses of interference.
The papal visit comes two weeks after a deadly attack claimed by the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group on a Pentecostal church in that province.
Previously called Zaire, with riches such as copper, cobalt, gold, diamonds, uranium, coltan and tin, the DRC has a history marked by colonialism, slavery and abuse.
It is also the land of Patrice Lumumba, an African anti-colonialist leader, who was the prime minister of the independent Congo in 1960, overthrown and assassinated.
Vigil and mass mass
After the reception ceremony at the airport, the head of the Catholic Church will travel aboard his popemobile through the streets that lead to the Palace of the Nation, where President Félix Tshisekedi awaits him.
Before the authorities, the diplomatic corps and representatives of civil society will deliver their first speech.
“It will be the occasion to send a strong message to politicians and address the issue of corruption,” says Samuel Pommeret, from the NGO CCFD Terre Solidaire, referring to one of the great evils that are eating away at that country.
On Tuesday night, it is estimated that tens of thousands of people will participate in a prayer vigil at Kinshasa’s N’dolo airport, where they will spend the night, before the massive mass on Wednesday before more than a million faithful.
Francis will also meet with victims of violence, displaced persons, members of the clergy and representatives of charities.
With 52 million Catholics, the former Belgian colony represents the future for Catholicism, which is losing followers in Europe and Latin America.
The Pope will travel on Friday to Juba, the capital of South Sudan, the youngest state in the world and one of the poorest on the planet, where he will remain until February 5.
