“The Pope wants to encourage everyone to reconciliation”
Ahead of Pope Francis’ visit to DRC, ACN spoke with Archbishop Ettore Balestrero, the Apostolic Nuncio to DRC, about the pope’s visit.
By ACN Staff
Archbishop Ettore Balestrero. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need)
On 31 January, Pope Francis travels to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the country with the largest Catholic population in Africa. DRC has been plagued by violence for decades. Josué Villalón from ACN spoke to the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Ettore Balestrero, about the pope’s visit to DRC.
Holy Mass in DRC. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need)
The Apostolic Nuncio started the interview by explaining that DRC is a very important country for the Catholic Church. It has the largest Catholic population in Africa and the seventh-largest Catholic population in the world. Issues such as evangelisation, mission and pastoral life of the Church here will be in the pope’s mind. As the archbishop explained, there are other issues:
“Socially, Congo suffers terribly from corruption, poverty levels are very high, and there is a desperate need for peace, especially in the east. Migratory challenges are also urgent, with 5.5 million internally displaced and 500,000 refugees. This is a young country: half the population, around 50 million people, are under the age of 18.”
On 1 February, the pope will meet some victims of the horrific violence plaguing the east of DRC. The nuncio spoke of the importance of this meeting:
“This meeting is an opportunity for Pope Francis to show that he is close to these people, for all the suffering and massacres they have suffered over the past thirty years and which continue to take place today. The Pope wishes to console the people, to condemn the attacks, to ask God for forgiveness for all these killings. He wants to invite and to encourage everybody to reconciliation, which is why the motto for the visit is “All reconciled in Jesus Christ”. This country gets its name from the great Congo River. The Pope wants to transform the river of hatred and violence into an ocean of justice and reconciliation. He wants to strengthen the notion that the future must be built with others, not against them. And the Congolese society expects the Pope to help show the world that the DRC is not a hopeless problem, but a moral urgency that cannot be forgotten.”
A refugee camp in Goma, Eastern DRC. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need)
The nuncio finished the interview by speaking about the importance of the assistance provided by ACN to the Church in DRC:
“It is very important, because it is concrete help. That is why I would like to take this opportunity to, once again, thank ACN and encourage the foundation to keep up the good work. There are so many needs and emergencies here. I am grateful that ACN continues to help, and for its cooperation with the Nunciature, so that the aid is increasingly effective. I send you my blessing, and may God continue to inspire you every day to be better and more faithful brethren of Jesus Christ.”