Pope Francis to visit South Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo in July

Pope Francis will visit the Democratic Republic of Congo from July 2 to 5, and South Sudan from July 5 to 7, the Vatican announced Thursday.

It will be his third papal trip to sub-Saharan Africa. In 2019, he visited Mozambique, Mauritius and Madagascar.

And in 2015, Kenya, Uganda and the Central African Republic. There, he visited a refugee camp for people displaced by civil war, and delivered a powerful message of peace.

POPE FRANCIS
November 29, 2015
Peace without love, without friendship, without tolerance, without forgiveness, is not possible. I would like for everyone to say together, “We are all brothers.”

Visiting South Sudan has long been on Pope Francis’ mind. He made his deep concern over the civil war in the country very clear in April of 2019, when he and Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby met with the warring leaders at the Vatican and implored them to choose peace.

POPE FRANCIS
April 4, 2019
I ask you as a brother, stay in peace. I’m asking you with my heart.

The Pope accompanied his appeal with this moving gesture.

Pope Francis’ trip in July will be his second in 2022, after he visits Malta in April.

Romereports.com