Pope Francis on Tuesday is expected to land in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa’s largest predominantly Catholic country, for a landmark three-day visit.

Here are five things to know about this vast nation:

Mineral wealth, dire poverty

The DRC is awash with minerals and precious stones, from gold, diamonds and coltan to tin, copper and cobalt.

Harbouring the Congo River — the second-largest in Africa after the Nile — the DRC also has huge hydroelectric potential, as well as 80 million hectares (197 million acres) of arable land.

But decades of war and chronic mismanagement means that little of the country’s enormous wealth trickles down to the population of some 100 million people.

About two-thirds of the Congolese population survive on under $2.15 a day, according to the World Bank.

Ethnic mosaic

Occupying a vast area the size of continental western Europe, the DRC is about 80 times larger than its former colonial power, Belgium.

It is the second-largest state in Africa after Algeria.

Some 250 different ethnic groups live in the DRC, speaking hundreds of different languages.

French is the country’s official language, and local tongues Kikongo, Lingala, Tshiluba and Swahili are also officially recognised.

Despite its size and diversity — the former province of Katanga tried to secede in the 1960s — there is a fierce sense of national unity.

Troubled east

The DRC has been ravaged by brutal conflicts in recent decades. The first Congo war, between 1996-1997, resulted in the overthrow of dictator Mobutu Sese Seko.

The second Congo war, between 1998-2003, sucked in nine different countries, involved about 30 armed groups and caused millions of deaths according to some estimates. It also bankrupted the country.

Most of the DRC is now at peace, but its mineral-rich eastern provinces remain plagued by dozens of armed groups and civilian massacres are common.

Secular, religious

Secularism has been enshrined in the Congolese Constitution since 1974, which also recognises freedom of worship.

According to estimates, about 40 percent of the country is Catholic, 35 percent Protestants of various denominations, nine percent Muslims and 10 percent Kimbanguists — a Christian movement born in the Belgian Congo.

Official Vatican statistics put the proportion of Catholics in the DRC at 49 percent of the population.

Atheists are exceedingly rare in Congolese society, which remains deeply religious and influenced by the church. During the colonial period, education was entrusted to Catholic missionaries.

Rumba, survival

Congolese people are renowned for their sense of humour and resourcefulness in the face of trying conditions.

Many jokingly refer to “Article 15” of the constitution, which purports to instruct citizens to sort things out themselves.

Music also plays an outsize role in the country’s culture. UNESCO listed Congolese rumba as intangible cultural heritage of humanity in December 2021.

Congo is also famed for its so-called sapeurs — dandies known for their ultra-elegant clothing and sense of style.

Source: AFP

Pope Francis led the funeral of his predecessor Benedict XVI on Thursday in front of tens of thousands of mourners in St Peter’s Square, an event unprecedented in modern times.

Red-clad cardinals, dignitaries and thousands of priests and nuns from around the world gathered to say goodbye to the German theologian, who stunned the Catholic Church in 2013 by becoming the first pontiff in six centuries to resign.

For the first time in modern history, the proceedings were led by a sitting pope, Francis, who delivered the homily in Italian as part of a multi-lingual service with a Latin mass.

“Benedict… may your joy be complete as you hear his (God’s) voice, now and forever!” the pontiff said in tribute to his predecessor, who died last Saturday aged 95.

At the end of the service, Francis made the sign of the cross over Benedict’s simple cypress wood coffin and bowed his head, before 12 besuited pallbearers carried it into St Peter’s Basilica.

Benedict will be interred in a tomb in the crypt beneath the basilica, where John Paul II’s body lay in state before it was moved for his beatification in 2011. He was made a saint in 2014.

Born Joseph Ratzinger, the ex-pope had not been a head of state for a decade, but world leaders including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni were among those in attendance.

An estimated 50,000 people were in the square for the funeral, according to police, many of them having queued up since dawn to bid farewell.

“Benedict is a bit like my father, so I had to pay homage to him,” said Cristina Grisanti, a 59-year-old from Milan, who hailed the former pope’s “purity, his candour, his mildness”.

An estimated 195,000 people had already paid their respects earlier when the body lay in state.

Benedict was the first German pope in 1,000 years and church bells rang out across Germany as the funeral finished on Thursday, while many Germans were also at the Vatican.

“We owe him so much. We want to show that we stand behind him,” said Benedikt Rothweiler, 34, who came from Aachen with his family.

“We actually know too little about Benedict. He always accepted everything the way God wants it. This is a good example for us humans.”

Two popes

Benedict was a brilliant theologian but a divisive figure who alienated many Catholics with his staunch defence of conservative doctrine on issues such as abortion.

His eight years as head of the worldwide Catholic Church was also marked by crises, from in-fighting within the Vatican to the global scandal of clerical sex abuse and its cover-up.

When he quit, Benedict said he no longer had the “strength of mind and body” necessary for the task, retiring to a quiet life in a monastery in the Vatican gardens.

His death brought an end to an unprecedented situation of having two “men in white” — he and Francis — living in the tiny city state.

He and Francis, an Argentine Jesuit, were said to get on well, but Benedict’s later interventions meant he stayed a standard-bearer for conservative Catholics who did not like his successor’s more liberal stance.

The last time a pope presided over the funeral of his predecessor was in 1802, when Pius VII led the ceremony for Pius VI — but the circumstances were very different.

Pius VI died in 1799 in exile, a prisoner of France, and was buried in Valence. His successor had his remains exhumed and brought back to Italy, before he was treated to a papal funeral at St Peter’s.

European royals

Beyond St Peter’s, many of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics had been expected to follow the funeral proceedings on television and the radio.

In the majority Catholic Philippines, churches held requiem masses for the former pontiff, including at Malolos Cathedral near the capital Manila.

“This is an unexplainable feeling to witness this,” said Cherry Castro, 67, who was among around 500 gathered for the special ceremony.

Portugal declared a national day of mourning on Thursday, while in Italy, flags were flown at half-mast on public buildings.

The only official delegations were from Germany and Italy.

But other dignitaries, including Belgian and Spanish royals, the presidents of Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Hungary, Slovenia and Togo, and the premiers of the Czech Republic, Gabon and Slovakia among others attended in a personal capacity.

The service followed traditional papal funerals, with a few changes to prayers and readings to reflect Benedict’s status as emeritus pope.

Before being laid in the crypt, his cypress coffin was due to be placed first inside a zinc coffin, then a wooden case.

As is traditional, coins and medals minted during his papacy and a written text describing his pontificate, sealed in a metal cylinder, will be placed alongside his body.

Source: AFP  

Thousands of Catholics began paying their respects Monday to former pope Benedict XVI at St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, at the start of three days of lying-in-state before his funeral.

The queue began to form before dawn in the square in front of the basilica, where Benedict’s body was transferred earlier from the monastery in the Vatican grounds where he died Saturday aged 95.

“I arrived at 6:00 am, it seemed normal to come and pay homage to him after all he did for the church,” said an Italian nun, sister Anna-Maria, who was in the early morning queue.

Benedict led the Catholic Church for eight years before becoming the first pope in six centuries to step down in 2013, citing his declining and physical health.

His successor Pope Francis will lead the funeral on Thursday in St Peter’s Square before his remains are laid to rest in the tombs beneath the Basilica. Benedict, a German theologian, died at the Mater Ecclesiae monastery, which had been his home for the past decade.

The Vatican on Sunday released photos of his corpse, dressed in red papal mourning robes and wearing a gold-edged mitre on his head, on a catafalque in the monastery chapel.

Members of the public will be able to pay their respects at St Peter’s Basilica from 9:00 am (0800 GMT) on Monday and then on Tuesday and Wednesday. Benedict’s shock resignation created the extraordinary situation of having two “men in white” — him and Francis — at the Vatican. His funeral will also break new ground.

Papal deaths usually trigger the calling of a conclave of cardinals to elect a successor, but this time Francis remains in post, and will lead proceedings. Benedict’s funeral will be “solemn but simple”, the Vatican has said, after which he will be buried in the papal tombs under St Peter’s Basilica.

The Vatican has yet to release details of the guest list, beyond saying that it will include delegations from Italy and Benedict’s native Germany.

‘Faithful servant’

The last papal funeral, of John Paul II in 2005, drew a million faithful and heads of state from around the world, although Benedict was a more divisive figure.

A brilliant theologian, he alienated many Catholics with his staunch defence of traditional values and as pope struggled to impose his authority on the church as it battled a string of crises, including over clerical sex abuse.

His successor cuts a very different figure, an Argentine Jesuit who is most at home among his flock and has sought to forge a more compassionate church.

Pope Francis paid tribute to Benedict in three New Year’s events at the Vatican over the weekend, “thanking God for the gift of this faithful servant of the Gospel and of the Church”.

Francis, 86, has raised the prospect that he might follow Benedict’s example and step down if he became unable to carry out his duties.

In July, suffering knee problems that have forced him to rely on a wheelchair, he admitted he needed to slow down or think about stepping aside.

Last month, Francis revealed he had signed a resignation letter when he took office should poor health prevent him from carrying out his duties.

Source: AFP

Former pope Benedict XVI has died at the age of 95, the Vatican announced Saturday, almost a decade after he became the first pontiff to resign in six centuries.

“With sorrow I inform you that the Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, passed away today at 9:34 in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican,” Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said in a statement.

The German pope emeritus, whose birth name was Joseph Ratzinger, had been living a quiet life in a former convent inside the Vatican grounds since his shock decision to step down in February 2013.

His health had been declining for a long time, but the Vatican revealed on Wednesday that his situation had worsened, while his successor Pope Francis called for Catholics worldwide to pray for him.

His death brings to an end an unprecedented situation in which two “men in white” –Benedict and Francis – had co-existed within the walls of the tiny city state.

Benedict’s funeral will be held in St. Peter’s Square on Thursday, January 5 and will be presided over by Pope Francis, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said on Saturday.

In 2005 the body of John Paul II, the last pope to die, lay in state before a funeral mass in St Peter’s Square attended by one million people, including heads of state.

Scandal and in-fighting

Benedict had almost entirely withdrawn from public view, his health reported to be shaky and the few photographs that emerged of him exposing his frailty.

Back in 2013, he had cited his declining physical and mental health in his decision to become the first pope since 1415 to give up the job as head of the worldwide Catholic church.

Benedict was a brilliant theologian but his papacy was beset by Vatican in-fighting and a scandal over clerical sexual abuse of children that rocked the Catholic Church the world over, in which he was criticised for a lack of leadership.

The abuse scandal overshadowed his final months after a damning report for the German church in January 2022 accused him of personally failing to stop four predatory priests in the 1980s while archbishop of Munich.

He denied wrongdoing and the Vatican strongly defended his record in being the first pope to apologise for the scandals, who expressed his own “deep remorse” and met with victims.

Born on April 16, 1927, in Marktl am Inn, in Bavaria, Benedict was 78 when he succeeded the long-reigning and popular John Paul II in April 2005, the first German pope of the modern era.

He later said his election felt “like the guillotine”.

Unlike his successor Pope Francis, a Jesuit who delights in being among his flock, Benedict was a conservative intellectual dubbed “God’s Rottweiler” in a previous post as chief doctrinal enforcer.

His papacy was dogged by controversy, from comments that angered the Muslim world to a money-laundering scandal at the Vatican bank and a personal humiliation when, in 2012, his butler leaked secret papers to the media.

Despite saying he would live “hidden from the world” after his resignation, he repeatedly intervened on key issues facing the Church through books, interviews and articles.

In January 2020, he expressed his opposition to allowing priests to marry. A year earlier, he blamed clerical abuse scandals on the 1960s sexual revolution and a collapse in faith in the West.

In an interview in March 2021, he said “there is only one pope”, but acknowledged “fanatical” supporters who refused to accept his resignation.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

The Vatican on Wednesday confirmed that the health of ex-pontiff Benedict XVI, 95, has worsened in the last few hours and he had been visited by Pope Francis, hours after the current pontiff said his predecessor is “very sick” and asked for prayers.

“I can confirm that in the last few hours there has been a deterioration due to advancing age. The situation at the moment remains under control, monitored continually by doctors,” spokesman Matteo Bruni said in a statement.

This came after Pope Francis said in a surprise announcement in Italian at the end of his weekly general audience: “I would like to ask all of you for a special prayer for Pope Emeritus Benedict, who, in silence, is sustaining the Church.”

“Let us remember him. He is very sick, asking the Lord to console and sustain him in this witness of love for the Church, until the end,” Francis said.

Until a few weeks ago, those who had seen Benedict said his body was very frail but his mind was still sharp.

One of the latest known photographs of Benedict was taken on Dec. 1, when he met the winners of a prize for theologians named after him. He was seated and looked exceptionally weak.

Since his resignation Benedict has been living in a former convent inside the Vatican gardens, with his secretary, Archbishop Georg Ganswein, and a few other aides and medical staff.

Benedict announced his intention to resign on February 11, 2013, shocking a meeting of cardinals. He said he no longer had the physical and mental strength to run the Church.

He formally stepped down on February 28 that year, moving temporarily to the papal summer residence south of Rome while cardinals from around the world came to Rome to choose his successor.

Francis, the first pope from Latin America, was elected to succeed him on March 13, 2013.

While Francis has often praised the former pope, saying it was like having a grandfather in a home, the presence of two men dressed in white in the Vatican was at times troublesome.

Conservatives looked to the former pope as their standard bearer and some ultra-traditionalists even refused to acknowledge Francis as a legitimate pontiff.

Benedict, the first German pope in 1,000 years, was elected on April 19, 2005 to succeed the widely popular Pope John Paul II, who reigned for 27 years.

Cardinals chose him from among their number seeking continuity and what one called “a safe pair of hands”.

For nearly 25 years, as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, he was the powerful head of the Vatican’s doctrinal office, then known as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF).

Source: AFP and Reuters

Pope Francis on Sunday appealed for an end to the “senseless” war in Ukraine, in his traditional Christmas message from St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican.

The 86-year-old also warned the 10-month-old conflict was aggravating food shortages around the world, urging an end to the use of “food as a weapon”.

The head of the Catholic Church addressed thousands of faithful gathered in St Peter’s Square, some of them holding Ukrainian flags, before delivering the “Urbi et Orbi” blessing (“to the city and the world”).

He has repeatedly called for peace ever since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, condemning the war but seeking to maintain a delicate dialogue with Moscow.

In his address from the central balcony of St Peter’s, he recalled “our Ukrainian brothers and sisters who are experiencing this Christmas in the dark and cold, far from their homes”.

“May the Lord inspire us to offer concrete gestures of solidarity to assist all those who are suffering, and may he enlighten the minds of those who have the power to silence the thunder of weapons and put an immediate end to this senseless war!”

“Tragically, we prefer to heed other counsels, dictated by worldly ways of thinking”, he added, recalling “with sorrow” that “the icy winds of war continue to buffet humanity”.

“Our time is experiencing a grave famine of peace also in other regions and other theatres of this third world war,” he said.

He referenced numerous countries in difficulty this Christmas, whether due to conflict or another crisis, from Afghanistan to Yemen, Syria, Myanmar, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Lebanon and Haiti.

For the first time, he also called for “reconciliation” in Iran, rocked by women-led protests for the past three months.

The pope also urged those celebrating Christmas to remember all those “who go hungry while huge amounts of food daily go to waste and resources are being spent on weapons”.

“The war in Ukraine has further aggravated this situation, putting entire peoples at risk of famine, especially in Afghanistan and in the countries of the Horn of Africa,” he said.

“We know that every war causes hunger and exploits food as a weapon, hindering its distribution to people already suffering,” the pope added.

“On this day, let us learn from the Prince of Peace (Jesus Christ) and, starting with those who hold political responsibilities, commit ourselves to making food solely an instrument of peace.”

Source: AFP