POPE Francis will be visiting the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and South Sudan between January 31 and February 5.
His trip to the two African countries was rescheduled after the initial visit, which was planned to take place in July 2022, was canceled due to a knee problem.
The Pope had apologised in June, vowing to reschedule the visit as soon as possible.
According to a report by the Catholic News Agency, an organisation that provides reports related to the Catholic Church to a global audience, Pope Francis will be visiting South Sudan alongside the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and the Moderator of the Church of Scotland, Iain Greenshields.
The trip is termed “a pilgrimage of peace”.
This visit will be the Pope’s first visit to the East African country since it became an independent nation in 2011. But the Pope, in 2019, had brought leaders of the country together to resolve their differences.
However, Pope Francis’s updated schedule for his visit to the Congo has been slightly altered. He will no longer be visiting the city of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, as earlier planned.
About half of Congo’s 90 million population are Catholics. Pope John Paul ll visited the country in 1980.
Also, 37 per cent of South Sudan’s total population are Catholics.
Beloved John is an investigative reporter with International Centre for Investigative Reporting.
You can reach her via: Bjohn@icirnigeria.org
The popes visit is important to these countries bearing in mind the political unrest there
What about us in Zambia That’s great to visit Africa
Comment:we welcome you pope to our land south sudan to save us of our lives even though we are in refugee
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