Pope arrives in DR Congo on ‘beautiful trip’ to Africa
By AFP
Pope Francis landed in the Democratic Republic of Congo Tuesday, hailing his “beautiful trip” to Africa as he comes bearing a message of peace to the conflict-torn nation and its troubled neighbour South Sudan.
Large crowds of well-wishers gathered at Kinshasa’s Ndjili airport, about 25 kilometres (15 miles) from the centre, to greet the Argentine pontiff, whose plane touched down at 2:35 pm local time (1:45 pm GMT).
“We’ve been waiting for a year, it’s a beautiful trip,” the 86-year-old pope told reporters travelling aboard his plane.
It is the first time since 1985 that a pope has visited the Democratic Republic of Congo, a desperately poor country of about 100 million people, 40 percent of whom are Catholic.
“I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to see him face to face,” Maggie Kayembe, a woman in her thirties, told AFP as she waited for the pope. “He always preaches peace wherever he goes, and peace, we really need it,” she added.
The six-day trip to DRC and South Sudan had been planned for July 2022, but postponed due to the pontiff’s knee pain that has forced him in recent months to use a wheelchair. Read more
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