War limits pope’s events in Congo

GOMA, Congo — Most Catholics in eastern Congo hoped that Pope Francis could bring a message of hope at a time when the M23 rebels are posing their greatest threat here since 2012.

His long-awaited visit to Congo and South Sudan this week comes after he postponed an earlier trip late last year that originally had included a stop in the volatile east. But insecurity has soared in the months since, so the pope is limiting his visit to Congo’s capital, Kinshasa.

“It is clear to anybody that there is a danger. But the danger, I would say, even more than for the pope is for the people,” the Vatican’s ambassador to Congo, Archbishop Ettore Balestrero, told The Associated Press.

The security requirements to protect people for a papal Mass would be hard under ordinary circumstances, but are even more delicate in an already dangerous area like the east, he said.

An estimated 2 million Congolese are expected at the Mass at Kinshasa airport on Wednesday, which he said would make it the largest crowd event in Congo’s recent history.

Fighting in eastern Congo, which has more than 120 armed groups, has simmered for years but spiked in late 2021 with the resurgence of the M23 group, which had been largely dormant for nearly a decade. The rebels have captured swaths of land and are accused by the United Nations and rights groups of committing atrocities against civilians.

Eastern Congo is also increasingly grappling with violence linked to Islamic militants. Earlier this month, the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for killing at least 14 people and injuring dozens with a bomb that exploded inside a church while people were praying.

In South Sudan, where Francis will travel after Congo, civil war has prevented a papal visit since 2017. Despite a fragile peace agreement signed more than four years ago to end half a decade of fighting that killed nearly 400,000 people, the security situation is deteriorating.

While large-scale clashes have subsided, in recent months nearly 40,000 people have been displaced by violence between politically backed youth militias in Upper Nile and Jonglei states.

Much of the peace agreement hasn’t been implemented and there is infighting among a splintered opposition. Elections are now slated for 2024 after a two-year delay, but preparations have been extremely slow.