On December 1, 2008, the media confirmed and published the program of the Pope Francis' trip the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and South Sudan. The trip was initially scheduled for July 2-5, 2022. Francis' invitation to the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan had arrived last year in order not to lose the "trust" and feed the "hope" of a meeting as soon as possible.
It was July 2, the day on which the Pope was to leave, until July 7, "for a pilgrimage of peace and reconciliation". but it had to be postponed to allow for the treatment of the knee that the Pope was undergoing at the time.
"Do not let your hope be stolen from you!", Francis then asked in a video message addressed to the people of the DRC and South Sudan, in which he expressed his regrets "for having been forced to postpone this long-awaited and long-awaited visit". To them, therefore, he entrusted the great mission of "turning the page to open new paths" of reconciliation, forgiveness, peaceful coexistence and development.
A few months passed, and the announcement of the meeting in 2023 arrived on December 1, with the program of the trip, the logo and the motto of the two stages. It will be Francis' fifth visit to the African continent. He previously traveled to Kenya, Central African Republic and Uganda (2015), Egypt (2017), Morocco (2019), and Mozambique, Madagascar and the Republic of Mauritius (2019).
Suffering in silence
From January 31 to February 5 of this year, the world's spotlight will be focused on these two African countries that have been suffering in silence for a long time. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is one of the largest and most populous countries in Africa. In a constant demographic growth, it is an almost totally Christian country (90 %) and with a considerable number of Catholics. In fact, Catholics make up 53 %, other Christians, 41 %, Muslims, 1.4 %, and traditional and other religions, 3.5 %. More than 200 ethnic groups live in the DRC, the majority being Bantu.
Future and present of the Church, the population is deeply believing and religious, which contrasts with the increasingly secularized Western society. Catholics or not, all look to Pope Francis as the bearer of hope and consolation. Suffering is the daily bread of millions of people struggling to live, or rather to survive. Lack of infrastructure, extreme poverty and in some areas the presence of violence make life difficult. But the Congolese do not lose hope and joy, and continue to dream of a better world.
Kinshasa, the capital, continues to grow in population. To the demographic growth are added the people coming from the interior of the country with a constant flow. It is impossible to know the number of inhabitants, estimates vary in the millions. A city in constant ferment, preparing for the arrival of the Pope. Quite a challenge for the organization, which will have to channel between one and two million people expected for the Mass at Ndolo Airport.
Training and dynamism challenge
From a religious point of view, Kinshasa, in particular, addresses the multiplication of the so called "Églises de Réveil".The Catholic Church faces a great challenge in the formation of its faithful, who are under great pressure from friends, relatives and itinerant preachers. The Catholic Church faces a great challenge in the formation of its faithful who are under great pressure from friends, relatives and itinerant preachers. The coming of the Pope will be an opportunity to evangelize and "close ranks" around the hierarchy of the Church.
The dynamism of the Congolese Church is a source of hope and consolation for the universal Church. It is one of the rare countries where vocations to the priestly and religious life continue to grow. Far from the conflicts that shake the Church in Europe and North America, the Church continues to expand, new parishes open, new movements and congregations are born.
Eastern Congo, without peace
For more than twenty years, the east of the country has not known peace. Dozens of militias, with the complicity of neighboring countries and politicians thirsty for wealth, are confronted by the presence of the Blue Helmets [UN], who have been on Congolese soil since the conflicts began. Displacements and humanitarian crises are constant.
In recent months, tens of thousands of people have left their homes and fields to flee a war that is difficult to understand. The so-called M23 rebels, armed like a regular army, have installed themselves a few kilometers from the city of Goma, with a population of more than one million inhabitants, which was probably the reason for the cancellation of this stage of the trip originally planned. The Catholic Church, faced with the real danger of balkanization of the east of the country, organized a peaceful march on the second Sunday of Advent to denounce the silence and complicity of foreign countries.
"All reconciled in Christ". This is the motto of Pope Francis' trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo. In June 2022, the streets of Kinshasa and Goma were filled with posters announcing the Pope's arrival. The population was preparing itself with enthusiasm, and the announcement of the delay was hard to accept. Before the new dates, the enthusiasm is contained, everyone hopes to see the dream come true. The Congolese are a warm people, and they will give an unforgettable welcome to the Holy Father.
South Sudan: unity
South Sudan has been a newly independent country since 2011. The civil war of 2013 has produced large population displacements and a humanitarian crisis. The wounds in the country are still raw and everyone is waiting for the Pope who will come with a message of peace and hope. The Church celebrates St. Josephine Bakhita on February 8, three days after the Pope's visit. The life of this saint says a lot about the suffering of this African people, but also about hope in a God who is love and does not forget the cries of suffering of his daughters and sons.
Sudan is Arab and Muslim (90 %), while the population of South Sudan is black, and more than half are Catholic (52 %), as in DR Congo. Nine percent are other Christians; Muslims, 6 %, and of other faiths, 32 %. Pope Francis will make this trip together with Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Jim Wallance, moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. A sign of unity and an example to the people to put aside divisions. The motto of the trip says it all: "I pray that all may be one." (Jn 17). A journey of peace and at the same time of ecumenical character.
Kneeling before leaders at war
In April 2019, Pope Francis left the world one of the images of his Petrine ministry when he received at the Vatican the main South Sudanese leaders, and kissed their feet to beg them to stop killing each other and reach a peace agreement.
"It is very important to remember that 'peace' was the first word that the voice of the Lord pronounced to the Apostles after his painful passion and after having conquered death." said the Pope to the South Sudanese authorities. And he stressed that he addressed them "the same greeting", so that it is possible to "to kindle a new light of hope for all the people of South Sudan."
Peace is possible!
Francis added that God has given each of us a mission among our people: "We ourselves are members of the people and have a particular responsibility and mission: to serve it, and it has chosen us to be its collaborators in building a more just world."
Finally, the Pope revealed: "My thoughts go primarily to the people who have lost their loved ones and their homes, to the families who have been separated and never found again, to all the children and elderly, to the women and men who suffer terribly due to conflicts and violence that sow death, hunger, pain and tears.". "I will never tire of repeating that peace is possible!", exclaimed the Holy Father at the end of his speech. An appeal that was echoed, and which he now repeats constantly on the occasion of the war in Ukraine.
Kinsasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
