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."
相關影片推薦
- 1:36美緬因大學再推「世界最大3D印表機」 可列印30公尺長零件 有望「印出整個社區」Yahoo奇摩(國際通)28,316 次觀看・17 小時前
- 1:51中橫便道落石封閉 谷關交通「誤認受阻」遇退房潮華視影音2,938 次觀看・7 小時前
- 1:56震撼花觀光!海鮮店推龍蝦便當 民宿出清家具止損華視影音14,065 次觀看・7 小時前
- 1:18具荷拉鉅額遺產媽媽拿不到! 判決出爐網友狂讚:遲來的正義娛樂星聞171,364 次觀看・19 小時前
- 1:44還清白!新北旅行團食物中毒 白河磚窯雞驗陰性東森新聞影音1,565 次觀看・11 小時前
- 1:57陸贈「組合屋」 林右昌:不是每個災民都想住TVBS新聞網影音1,007 次觀看・11 小時前
- 1:09雷!《淚之女王》八點檔劇情反轉到讓人傻眼 最後這幕網友氣炸:到底在幹嘛?娛樂星聞6,473 次觀看・11 小時前
- 1:23雪霸大鹿林道湧成千上萬"馬陸" 綿延約50公尺民視影音2,799 次觀看・7 小時前
- 1:02林志玲在水泥車上開腿燦笑網友問號 PO出陸時尚照風格讓全網傻眼了娛樂星聞12,060 次觀看・1 天前
- 2:37慘!花蓮大地震重創觀光 海鮮餐廳改賣"龍蝦便當"苦撐民視影音10,182 次觀看・4 小時前
熱門必看
- 1:18具荷拉鉅額遺產媽媽拿不到! 判決出爐網友狂讚:遲來的正義娛樂星聞171,303 次觀看・19 小時前
- 11:37地震不斷...我住的房子安全嗎? 達人分享最容易倒塌的5種建築Yahoo創作摩人32,017 次觀看・5 天前
- 8:10回家鄉過年,在馬來西亞剪頭髮,貴嗎?第一次看過這樣開椰子,嚇到了!芭樂媽的家 Qistin Wong TV2,811 次觀看・1 週前
- 7:12一哭就抱會寵壞寶寶嗎?這樣抱不僅可以培養安全感!也不會養成壞習慣!茜茜 育兒生活好好玩2,486 次觀看・1 週前
- 11:23多益聽力實戰必備技巧!小心這些陷阱題!【英文易開罐】從零開始考多益EP9英文易開罐23,265 次觀看・1 週前