Pope Francis is flying to Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, beginning his 40th Apostolic Journey.

It will be “an ecumenical pilgrimage of peace.” Francis is the second pope to make an apostolic journey to Congo and the first to travel to South Sudan, a nation that has existed as an autonomous entity only since 2011. Pope St. John Paul II visited DRC in 1980 and 1985.

Pope Francis’ Apostolic Journey will take place from January 31 to February 5, 2023: first to Congo, and then to South Sudan. In last Sunday’s Angelus, the Pope commented on his trip. “Long lasting conflicts plague those lands. The Democratic Republic of Congo suffers, especially in the east of the country, from armed violence and exploitation, while South Sudan, torn apart by years of war, wishes for the end of the continuous violence that displaces so many people and gives them great hardship.”

The Pope’s plane left Fiumicino Airport at 8:29 a.m. and will arrive at 3 p.m. Rome time at N’djili International Airport in Kinshasa.

The Holy See Press Office reports that this morning, before leaving Casa Santa Marta and heading to the airport, Pope Francis met with a dozen migrants and refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan, the two countries he will visit in the coming days. They were welcomed and supported, along with their families, by Centro Astalli. Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the Prefect of the Dicastery for Charity, was also with them.

Also, the Holy See Press Office reported that on arriving at Fiumicino Airport, the Holy Father’s car stopped briefly near the Monument to the Fallen of Kindu, the 13 Italian airmen killed in Congo on November 11, 1961. Pope Francis prayed for the victims of that bloody massacre and for all those who have lost their lives participating in humanitarian and peace missions.

The flight will be six hours and fifty minutes long, and will cross over eight countries. During the flight, the Pope will greet the journalists accompanying him during these days. The motto of the trip to Congo is “All reconciled in Christ.”