Kinshasa, 31 January, 2023 / 9:50 pm (ACI Africa).
The Apostolic Journey of Pope Francis to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is to “strengthen the faith, hope and charity” of the people of God in the Central African nation, the President of the National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO) has told ACI Africa.
In a Monday, January 30 interview with ACI Africa, Archbishop Marcel Utembi Tapa said, “The Congolese people and civil authorities are filled with joy with the arrival of the Pope and are already eager to warmly welcome the Holy Father from Rome.”
“Pope Francis is coming to strengthen the faith, hope and charity of the people of God spread throughout the world, so that all of us may be reconciled in Jesus Christ, to whom we have become brothers and in him we are members of one family,” Archbishop Utembi said, and recalled the emphasis about fraternity that the Holy Father makes in his October 2020 Encyclical Letter, Fratelli Tutti.
The pastoral visit of the Holy Father, the Local Ordinary of DRC’s Kisangani Archdiocese told ACI Africa, “is within the framework of his mission as received from God as the Supreme Pastor of the Catholic Church, despite his state of health.”
Pope Francis arrived in Kinshasa on January 31 in the afternoon, the first stop of his Apostolic journey to DRC and South Sudan.
