Pope Francis arrived in Kinshasa on Tuesday for a six-day visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and South Sudan, two fragile African nations where protracted conflicts have displaced millions of civilians, sowing death, hunger and despair.
The trip – his fifth to Africa – takes the 86-year-old pope to countries blighted by conflict and poverty, where Catholics make up about half of the population and where the Church has long been a key player in democracy-building efforts.
