An estimated 1 million joyous Congolese poured into the capital’s main airport Wednesday for Pope Francis’ first big Mass in Africa, on a day dedicated to his call for peace and forgiveness in a country wracked by decades of violence.
Many of the Congolese faithful spent the night 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 to the overwhelmingly Christian country since St. John Paul II’s last trip in 1985.
