Read also Pope Francis will visit the DRC and South Sudan in July 
Pope Francis will visit the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and South Sudan from July 2nd to 7th, two African countries suffering from violence and to which he pays special attention. The 85-year-old pontiff will first visit the DRC from July 2nd to 5th, visiting the cities of Kinshasa and Goma, before visiting Juba, the capital of South Sudan, from July 5th to 7th, in response to invitations from heads of state and bishops. announced the director of the press center of the Holy See Mateo Bruni on Thursday, March 3.
“The Pope is coming to revive the hopes of the Congolese people in need of peace, security and prosperity,” said Marcel Utembi Tapa, President of the National Episcopal Conference of the Congo (Cenco), during a press conference in Kinshasa. minutes after the announcement of the Vatican. According to Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo, Archbishop of Kinshasa, this visit is “an invaluable gift to our country, to our people, a people who are going through difficult times today.”
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The DRC, a country of about 90 million people suffering from ongoing armed conflict, is said to have 40% Catholics, 35% Protestants or Revival-affiliated, 9% Muslims and 10% Kimbangis (a Congolese-born Christian church), according to estimates. It is a secular state, but religion is ubiquitous in the daily lives of Congolese. The Catholic Church, in particular, sometimes plays a leading role in local politics.
Goma, the capital of the northern Kivu province in the eastern part of the country, has been the scene of violence by armed groups for more than 25 years. The pope’s last visit to Kinshasa dates back to August 1985, when John Paul II spent two days in what was then called Zaire.
Chronic instability
The visit to South Sudan will be the pope’s first since the country’s founding in 2011. Experienced by chronic instability, this poor country of 11 million plunged into a bloody civil war between 2013 and 2018 against sworn enemies Rijeka Machar and Salva Kiir. It claimed the lives of nearly 400,000 people and forced millions more to flee their homes.
Despite the peace agreement signed in 2018 and providing for the sharing of power within a government of national unity, disputes between the two rivals at the top of the state continue and violence continues. According to a UN report released on Tuesday, at least 440 civilians were killed between June and September 2021 in clashes between factions on both sides.
Read also South Sudan: at least 440 civilians killed between June and September 2021 in the south-west of the country
The Holy See is directly involved in the negotiations, acting as a mediator. In 2019, Francis even invited Salva Kiir and Rijeka Machar to the Vatican for spiritual solitude, after which he knelt before them, begging them to make peace, a symbolically strong gesture that marked the spirits.
Since his election in 2013, Francois has traveled to Africa four times, including Kenya, Uganda, the Central African Republic, Egypt and Morocco. His last trip to Africa dates back to September 2019: then he went to Mozambique, Madagascar and then Mauritius. This apostolic trip will be the pope’s second trip abroad in 2022, following a visit to Malta scheduled for April 2-3.
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