Pope Francis is completing a three-day visit to Africa's largest country during which he delivered very political and frank messages.

What to remember from the papal visit to the DRC and what to expect from the one in South Sudan?

Pope Francis met with victims of violence in eastern DRC, in Kinshasa, February 1, 2023. AP - Gregorio Borgia

Text by: RFI Follow

6 mins

Pope Francis is completing a three-day visit to Africa's largest country during which he delivered very political and frank messages.

Advertising

With our correspondents in Kinshasa,

Patient Ligod

i, and in

Rome

Hugues Lefèvre

Pope Francis ends his stay in Kinshasa this Friday.

He met victims of the violence, celebrated a gigantic mass in front of around a million people and met young people gathered in the largest stadium in the country.

This visit was particularly marked by a great mobilization and poignant speeches by the sovereign pontiff.

►

To read also: DRC: Pope Francis meets victims of violence in the East

This is undoubtedly one of the most powerful pleas made on the security and humanitarian crisis raging in eastern DRC.

In front of the cameras from everywhere, the pope and the world listened to the victims who came from the zones torn apart by the violence.

In mondovision, the sovereign pontiff did not go out of his way to denounce “

economic colonialism

” and “

systematic looting of Congolese minerals

”.

He went further by evoking a forgotten genocide, and by denouncing the occupations of villages and attempts to partition this space.

In his speeches, the pope did not spare the local political elite either, whom he questioned about their responsibilities.

François also insisted on the fight against corruption.

The papal visit also allowed the Archbishop of Kinshasa, Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo, to remind the Pope, the President of the Republic and the opponents of the need to organize credible elections at the end of this year.

The Pope's stay once again confirmed the political and sociological weight of the Catholic Church in the country.

The four days of presence of the Bishop of Rome in Kinshasa disrupted the life of the capital.

Some schools closed for at least two days.

Logistically, more fear than harm.

Some had predicted chaos in the organization, the million faithful who mobilized were well supervised.

No major incident was recorded.

Under the miter, the soft power

If it is too early to assess the effects of the pope's visit to the DRC, one thing is certain: the soft power of the Holy See was running at full speed for three days.

First, the pope had wanted to make this trip a lever to alert people to the dramas taking place in the east of the country.

By organizing a meeting with the victims of the conflicts, he allowed the media around the world to report the horrors of the violence suffered in this little-known region.

Then, the pope skilfully demonstrated his support for the Church in the DRC in its fight for the rule of law.

Before President Tshisekedi, whose election had been contested by the bishops, he slipped a call for "

transparent and credible

" elections.

Finally, the pope vigorously denounced the corruption that is rampant in the country by asking the young people gathered at the Stade des Martyrs to repeat his slogan launched in French: “No corruption!

In the aftermath, the Argentinian let the crowd scream their thirst for change, even if it meant being overwhelmed by stands demanding the departure of the incumbent president.

In the end, in Kinshasa, Francis wanted to be the spokesperson for a bruised people, like Pope John Paul II was once.

Interview with Trésor Kibangula, political analyst at Ebuteli, Congolese Institute for Research on Politics and Governance, based in Kinshasa.

South Sudanese have expectations

After his visit to the DRC, Pope Francis is to fly this Friday, February 3 to Juba, the capital of South Sudan, where he is expected around 3 p.m. local time.

The country descended into civil war in 2013, just two years after its independence.

A conflict caused by the rivalries between President Salva Kiir and Vice President Riek Machar.

The pope will be joined in this three-day visit to Juba by the leaders of the Protestant Churches: the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, as well as the moderator of the general assembly of the Church of Scotland, Iain Greenshields.

More than 60% of the inhabitants of this country are Christians.

The country and especially the capital have prepared to finally receive the visit of the sovereign pontiff, after a postponement for health reasons, reports our correspondent in Juba,

Florence Miettaux

Welcome posters, streets cleaned and tarred in record time, installation of drinking water taps at the Mausoleum of John Garang… In recent days, the South Sudanese capital has been transformed to welcome the pope and the two other religious leaders.

As of yesterday, crowds began to be visible in the streets of Juba, where a million people are expected.

This is not the first time that South Sudanese leaders have met the sovereign pontiff: in 2019, President Salva Kiir, Vice-President Riek Machar and the country's four other vice-presidents had already visited him at the Vatican. .

The pope knelt down to kiss the feet of these leaders and implore them to make peace.

An unprecedented gesture which had not had the expected effects, the youngest country in the world being still very late in the implementation of the 2018 peace agreement.

The South Sudanese have very strong expectations regarding the messages that Pope Francis will deliver during the various meetings planned.

The head of the Catholic Church is due to meet today with the president and vice presidents, the authorities and the diplomatic corps.

Tomorrow, Saturday, he will speak to members of the Church at St. Therese Cathedral and then meet with people displaced by war.

An ecumenical prayer is also planned as well as a mass that the pope will celebrate at the Mausoleum of John Garang, Sunday morning before his departure.

For several decades, the various Churches of the country have been working together to bring peace there, recalls John Ashworth former missionary in Sudan and South Sudan

Finally meeting with civil society.

Harassment of journalists, threats against humanitarian workers, rights of disabled people... Edmond Yakani, the director of the civil society organization CEPO, prepared his meeting with the Pope and the two other religious well: "

I wish their ask to tell our leaders to take responsibility for the violence that continues at the local level, in the regional states.
I would like them to tell South Sudanese and our leaders to stop fueling communal violence for their selfish political calculations, and take responsibility to ensure that war does not return to the country.

Director of the Jonglei State Civil Society Network, Bol Deng Bol will not attend the meeting.

He is still delighted with the visit: “

The arrival of these religious leaders in South Sudan shows that the whole world is aware of what is happening to us.
It is therefore a blessing for the people in the camps for the displaced as well as for those who are refugees in other countries and who have great difficulties.
This visit is important for them and will make their problems visible.

South Sudan has four and a half million internally displaced people and refugees.

The idea of accompanying the pope to a camp for displaced people near Juba was abandoned in favor of a meeting with displaced people at Freedom Hall on Saturday.

What to remember from the papal visit to the DRC and what to expect from the one in South Sudan?

What to remember from the papal visit to the DRC and what to expect from the one in South Sudan?

Under the miter, the soft power

South Sudanese have expectations

You may like

Trends 24h

Latest