Prior to 1964, no pope had left Italy for 150 years. The advent of the 747 and long-haul flights enabled popes to finally visit the world, and the world to visit the pope.
Africa
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
‘We thank God for the pope’: Takeaways from Pope Francis’ visit to the D.R.C.
In the D.R.C., Pope Francis has shown his advanced age and physical mobility problems have not limited his extraordinary capacity to console the afflicted, call evildoers to conversion and sustain the faithful in hope.
Posted inExplainer, Politics & Society
Three things to know about Pope Francis’ visit to South Sudan
The contemporary tension in South Sudan has a complex and disturbing history.
Posted inPolitics & Society, Vatican Dispatch
Pope Francis preaches peace to one million Congolese people at Zaire rite Mass
Pope Francis told the million Congolese gathered before him that Jesus has shown “three sources” from which “to nurture peace”: “forgiveness, community and mission.”
Posted inInterviews, Politics & Society
Congolese Jesuit on Pope Francis’ Africa visit: ‘Women are expecting some changes to happen’
Toussaint Kafarhire Murhula, S.J., a priest in the Democratic Republic of Congo, describes the joy of Congolese people at the pope’s visit and his hopes for what the pope’s journey might bring.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Pope Francis tells foreign exploiters in Congo: ‘Hands off Africa!’
”Hands off Africa!” Pope Francis said on the first day of his visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. “Stop choking Africa: It is not a mine to be stripped or a terrain to be plundered.”
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
What to expect during Pope Francis’ visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan
Pope Francis will make his fourth journey to Africa on January 31. Hopes are high that Francis’ visit may kick-start the struggling peace processes in both countries.
Posted inFaith, News
Where in the world is Catholic Mass attendance highest?
The nation with the highest Catholic Mass attendance could be Nigeria, as 94 percent of self-identified Nigerian Catholics said they attended daily or weekly Mass, in a new study.
Posted inFaith, News
Pope Francis prays for victims of church bombing in Congo two weeks before visit
Authorities say Sunday’s bombing in Kasindi, a town in North Kivu province, killed at least 14 people and injured more than 60.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Catholic priest burned to death in Nigeria
Deadly violence hit Christians in Africa Jan. 15, with a Catholic priest in northern Nigeria burned to death and as many as 17 Christians killed in a blast in eastern Congo.