Pope Francis will go to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and South Sudan early subsequent yr, the Vatican stated on Thursday, after a scheduled journey to each international locations in July was cancelled due to well being issues.
The Vatican stated Francis would go to DRC from January 31 to February 3 after which spend two days in South Sudan alongside the archbishop of Canterbury and the moderator of the final meeting of the Church of Scotland.
He needed to name off the dual journey in July due to a persistent knee ailment, which has left him having to usually use a wheelchair. Vatican sources stated on the time that he was receiving a number of injections every week for the painful situation, in addition to bodily remedy.
The Vatican assertion stated Francis would go to the DRC capital, Kinshasa, however made no point out of a go to to Goma, which is within the restive japanese area and was on the unique schedule for the July journey.
After DRC, the pope will fly to Juba, the capital of South Sudan. He has needed to go to predominantly Christian South Sudan for years however every time planning for a visit started it needed to be postponed due to the instability and his well being.
South Sudan gained independence in 2011. Civil warfare erupted in 2013 during which 400,000 folks have been killed and though the 2 important sides signed a peace deal in 2018, the nation continues to be suffering from starvation and violence.
Regardless of cancelling the Africa journey, the pope cast forward with different abroad visits, together with a visit to Canada in late July. Final month, he spent 4 days in Bahrain.