KINSHASA – Pope Francis arrived in the Congolese capital on Tuesday, January 31, 2023. The ITA Airways Airbus A350 landed in N’djili at 2:30 p.m. after nearly 6:50 minutes of flight. The sovereign pontiff was welcomed at the foot of the plane by Prime Minister Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde and Mgr Ettore Balestrero as well as thousands of Congolese from several provinces of the DRC.
The sovereign pontiff must then travel to South Sudan on Friday. His arrival in Kinshasa is eagerly awaited as he was supposed to go there last July; his trip had been postponed for health reasons, according to the Vatican.
It should be noted that expectations are very high 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.
© CongoForum – Paulin Munyala,
Image – source: Congolese press