One hope united many of the people streaming to see Pope Francis perform mass in DR Congo's capital on Wednesday: that his presence could at last bring peace to the war-wracked east of the African country.
Pope Francis arrives for a Mass celebration, next to Archbishop of Kinshasa Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, February 1, 2023. REUTERS/ Luc Gnago
"I'm sick, but I know that as the Pope is here, everything will be okay," said Nzinga, who brought her 13-year-old granddaughter along to the N'Dolo airport in the east of the city. As the sun rose, crowds of people streamed into the venue. At 6:00 am, many of the chairs had already been taken and people were sitting on the ground. The heat promised to be intense.
Official Vatican statistics put the proportion of Catholics in the DRC at 49 percent of the population.
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