Pope Francis to visit two fragile African nations

STORY: The moment has arrived for millions of Catholics in two fragile African countries.

Pope Francis starts his visit on Tuesday (January 31) to Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan.

Protracted conflict in the neighboring nations has forced millions from their homes, leaving them grappling with hunger.

The trip had been scheduled for last July.

It was postponed after the 86-year-old pontiff suffered a flare-up in a knee ailment.

Now Francis is arriving with a change to his itinerary that reflects the violence afflicting DRC.

A stop in the eastern city Goma has now been scrapped after a resurgence of fighting between the army and rebels from the M23 group.

Instead representatives of the Catholic Church in the provincial capital, like Father Adeodatus Muhigi, will make the cross-country journey to Kinshasa.

"We will have a small delegation to go to Kinshasa and we have put a lot of emphasis on the victims, the victims of war, the victims of violence, the victims of natural disasters."

This will be the first papal visit to Congo since 1985.

The historic nature of the occasion will be further underscored when the Pope heads to South Sudan on Friday (February 3).

In an unprecedented move, he will be joined by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, Iain Greenshields.

The three churches represent the Christian make-up of South Sudan - which gained independence from predominantly Muslim Sudan in 2011.

Two years later and ethnic conflict erupted, spiralling into a civil war that killed 400,000 people.

There are 2.2 million internally displaced people in the country and 2.3 million fled as refugees.

A 2018 deal stopped the worst of the fighting but parts of the agreement, including the redeployment of a national army, are yet to be implemented.

Chris Trott, Britain's ambassador to the Vatican and a former ambassador in South Sudan, said it is hoped that the three churchmen can persuade political leaders to "fulfil the promise of the independence movement."