Before his visit to the DRC, Pope Francis expresses his wishes for peace for Africa

Published on : 09/01/2023 – 23:53

The return to diplomacy took place this Monday at the Vatican with the traditional speech of greetings from Pope Francis for 2023. world war by pieces”, to point out the multiplication of crises on the planet. Beyond Ukraine, it is also towards the African continent that he has turned.

In these wishes, followed by our correspondent in Rome Eric Senanquethe sovereign pontiff recalled his next visit, at the end of the month, to Kinshasa: a trip he describes as a ” pilgrimage » « with the hope that the violence in the east of the country will cease and that the path of dialogue and the will to work for security and the common good will prevail ».

François also mentioned South Sudan, which will be the second stage of this trip, but it is also the other crisis situations on the continent that he wished not to forget: “ I am also following with apprehension the situation in West Africa, which is increasingly afflicted by the violence of terrorism. I am thinking in particular of the dramas experienced by the populations of Burkina Faso, Mali and Nigeria, and I hope that the transition processes under way in Sudan, Mali, Chad, Guinea and Burkina Faso will take place with respect for the legitimate aspirations of the populations concerned. »

« It is possible to weave the threads of peace “, also underlined the pope in this long speech, evoking many other theaters of war. A speech that Francis wanted to be inspired by John XXIII’s encyclical Pacem In Terris, a text which will celebrate its 60th anniversary this year.

The pope will not go to eastern DRC

The DRC, the largest Catholic country in Africa, will welcome Pope Francis on January 31. The visit was originally scheduled for last July, but had to be postponed for health reasons. In addition, the timetable for his trip has been cut short. The bishop of Rome will no longer travel to the east of the country, which is plagued by violence from armed groups. He will remain in Kinshasa where the authorities launched a communication campaign on Monday on this papal visit, the first following 43 years, reports our correspondent on the spot, Pascal Mulegwa.

On board his popemobile, the sovereign pontiff should cross Lumumba boulevard in the middle of the crowd to the presidential palace. It is there that François will deliver his first message on Congolese soil. Six sites have been planned for the eleven events of the Pope’s visit. The most important event is the mass scheduled the day following his arrival. It will take place at the Ndolo military airport near the city center. It is the only open site that can accommodate more than a million people.

« Today, the 850,000 square meters of the Ndolo site will be compartmentalized into 30 zones. A question of avoiding mass movements as well. And on this same site which will be transformed into a large open-air church, there is a gallery, the largest ever built in the history of this country. It is a grandstand that is 1440 square meters equipped. A grandstand with elevator explains Noël Sheke, the technical coordinator of the Pope’s visit.

All work should be completed one week before the event. According to the apostolic nuncio who took part in the communication campaign, the pope will meet victims of the massacres in the East, displaced persons, representatives of institutions and churches, but also politicians.

In anticipation of these events, the authorities yesterday began a eviction operation once morest illicit businesses, makeshift displays and fake parking lots along Lumumba Boulevard.