On Wednesday, February 1, 2023, Pope Francis urged the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo to forgive those who have harmed them.
The Pontiff said this as he presided over a Mass before an estimated 1 million people who flocked to his first main event in Africa dedicated to peace and reconciliation for a country wracked by decades of violence.
Many of the Congolese faithful spent the night before the Mass on the vast airfields of Kinshasa’s Ndolo airport and passed the hours before Francis’ arrival singing, dancing and getting jazzed up for the first papal visit since St. John Paul II’s last trip in 1985.
They cheered wildly when Francis began an unhurried ride around the airfields in his open-sided pope mobile, some of them running alongside or waving flags.
Many of the women wore dresses and skirts made of a wax print fabric featuring images of Francis or other religious symbols.
The crowd cheered again when the Argentine pope greeted them in Lingala, one of four national languages of Congo that is widely spoken in the capital, Kinshasa.
“Today I understand the enthusiasm of my grandmother when Pope John Paul II came,” said Julie Mbuyi, a 45-year-old mother of two who was wearing a Francis-themed outfit.
“She was so excited to see him and the night before she couldn’t close her eyes!” Julie Mbuyi added.
Among the faithful was Clément L’onde, who travelled from Kisantu, a town in the province of Central Kongo, more than 150 kilometers from Kinshasa. He planned to participate in all of Francis’ events.
“To my children and to the children who stayed in my city, I will bring them the message of the Holy Father, the message of peace and reconciliation,” L’onde noted.
The crowd of faithfuls listened attentively as Pope Francis urged them in his homily to open their hearts to forgiveness, citing the example of Christ who forgave those who betrayed him.
“He showed them his wounds, because forgiveness is born from wounds. It is born when our wounds do not leave scars of hatred, but become the means by which we make room for others and accept their weaknesses. Our weakness becomes an opportunity, and forgiveness becomes the path to peace.”
Pope Francis
Referring to the decades of violence especially in DR Congo’s east that has forced millions to flee their homes, Francis stressed that forgiving does not mean pretending that nothing bad has happened. However, he said the act of forgiveness creates an “amnesty of the heart.”
“What great good it does us to cleanse our hearts of anger and remorse, of every trace of resentment and hostility!”
Pope Francis
Francis’ First Big Event In Congo
The morning Mass was Francis’ first big event in Congo after he arrived on Tuesday, January 31, 2023. He arrived in Congo to a very raucous welcome. The Congolese were grateful that he was focusing the world’s attention on their forgotten plight.
In his opening speech to government authorities, Pope Francis condemned the centuries-long plundering of Africa’s mineral and natural wealth by foreign powers.
Pope Francis demanded that foreign powers stop plundering Africa’s natural resources for the “poison of their own greed.”
“Hands off the Democratic Republic of the Congo! Hands off Africa!” Francis said to applause in his opening speech to Congolese government authorities and the diplomatic corps in the garden of Kinshasa’s national palace.
“Stop choking Africa. It is not a mine to be stripped or a terrain to be plundered.”
Pope Francis
Roughly half of Congo’s 105 million people are Catholic, according to Vatican statistics.
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