Pope Francis visits the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan (31 January – 5 February 2023)

His Holiness Pope Francis will depart from Fiumicino International Airport in Rome on the morning of Tuesday 31 January, at 8:05, and will arrive at Kinshasa “Ndjili” International Airport at 15:00, where the official reception will take place. At 16.30 the reception ceremony will take place in the “Palazzo della Patria”, where the Holy Father will pay a courtesy visit to the President of the Republic in the “Presidential Hall” of the Palazzo della Patria, and at 17.30:30 he will meet the authorities, civil society and the diplomatic corps in the palace garden.

On Wednesday 1 February Pope Francis will preside over the Divine Liturgy at Ndulu airport in Kinshasa at 9:30 and at 16:30 he will meet the victims of the east of the country at the headquarters of the Apostolic Nunciature, where he will also have a meeting at 18:30 with the representatives of some charitable organizations.

On Thursday 2 February, at 9:30, Pope Francis will meet young people and catechists at the Martyrs’ Stadium in Kinshasa. At half past four in the afternoon there will be a prayer meeting with priests, deacons, consecrated men and women and seminarians at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Congo in Kinshasa. Pope Francis will also have a private meeting at 18:30 with members of the Jesuit Order, at the headquarters of the Apostolic Nunciature.

On Friday 3 February His Holiness Pope Francis will meet the bishops at 8:30 at the headquarters of the Bishops’ Conference in Kinshasa, then the farewell ceremony will take place at the “Ndjili” international airport, where the Holy Father will leave at 10:40 for Juba . Pope Francis will visit South Sudan with the Archbishop of Canterbury and Coordinator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. The Holy Father arrives at Juba International Airport at three in the afternoon, where the reception ceremony will take place. At 16 he will pay a courtesy visit to the President of the Republic at the Presidential Palace, then he will meet the Vice-Presidents of the Republic. At five in the afternoon, the Holy Father will meet the authorities, civil society and the diplomatic corps in the garden of the Presidential Palace.

As for Saturday 4 February, Pope Francis will meet bishops, priests, deacons, men and women and seminarians in the cathedral of Santa Teresa in Juba. He will have a private meeting at eleven in the morning with the members of the Jesuit Order at the headquarters of the Apostolic Nunciature. At 16:30 Pope Francis will meet internally displaced people in the Freedom Hall in Juba, and at 18:00 there will be an ecumenical prayer at the tomb of John Garang.

And at 8:45 on Sunday, February 5, Pope Francis will preside over Mass at the tomb of John Garang. At eleven the farewell ceremony will take place at the Juba international airport, where the Holy Father will leave at half past eleven for Rome, arriving at Fiumicino international airport at half past five in the afternoon.