After Pope's Call for Peace, Violence Hits East DR Congo

UCANews ^ | 2/3/23 | AFP

[marshmallow]

Conflict continued during the pope's visit, while attacks by armed groups also claimed the lives of civilians in the east

Pope Francis made repeated appeals for peace during his landmark trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo this week, but there was no let-up in fighting in the east.

Putting an end to violence was a dominant theme of the pontiff's visit to Africa's largest Catholic country, where he arrived on Tuesday and was to depart for South Sudan on Friday.

Dozens of armed groups have plagued eastern DRC for decades, many of which are a legacy of regional wars that flared in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Since late 2021, the M23 rebel group has also captured swathes of territory in the turbulent region and forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes.

In a huge open-air mass in the capital Kinshasa, which organisers said drew a million people, Francis urged the faithful not to "give in to divisions".

The 86-year-old later met victims of the conflict, who recounted horrors of mutilation and rape. He condemned the "inhumane violence" and called for mercy from God.

"May he convert the hearts of those who carry out brutal atrocities, which bring shame upon all humanity," Francis said.

The message was well received by worshippers, many of whom said they had hoped the pope's visit would spur peace.

[nwrep]

Yawn. Africa.

[Organic Panic]

S holes are s holes because s hole people like living in s holes.

[married21]

That is a gross generalization. The Africans I have known, including those living there, have been ladies and gentlemen. They do the best they can despite corrupt governments and terrorists.

[Organic Panic]

If they, the locals, collectively did not want the situation they lived in they would change it. An exception to the rule does not prove the rule wrong.