Pope Francis will visit the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan next week ECRNewsWatch PopeFrancis
The 86-year-old pontiff is flying to the Congolese capital Kinshasa on Tuesday before heading Friday to Juba, the capital of South Sudan, where he will be joined by the leaders of the Anglican Church and the Church of Scotland.
The new itinerary no longer includes a trip to Goma, the capital of the North Kivu province, though the pope will meet victims of the conflict while in Kinshasa. But his priority will be efforts to restore peace in two impoverished countries ravaged by fighting, from the three decades of conflict in DR Congo's east to the violence that persists in South Sudan after a brutal civil war.More than a million people are expected at an open-air mass at Kinshasa airport on Wednesday, and market stalls are already doing brisk business in papal souvenirs including T-shirts and wax prints decorated with Francis' image.
Security in Kinshasa will be a concern, mainly because of the threat of militias from the east, but Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni told journalists Tuesday that there was"no specific threat" against the pontiff. Despite its natural wealth,"Congo also embodies social injustice, the scandal of underdevelopment and poverty", said Samuel Pommeret from the nongovernmental organisation CCFD-Terre Solidaire.
At that event, Francis stunned the world by kissing the feet of the two men, both accused of responsibility for war crimes.
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