The Congolese bishops voiced their concern over rising tension in Congo after President Joseph Kabila unilaterally nominated Bruno Tshibala as prime minister over the objection of opposition parties.

Last June, fighting broke out between soldiers of the Sudan People's Liberation Army and a mixture of local opposition groups and members of other ethnic communities.

"I hope that this visit will be an embrace of consolation and of encouragement to all Christians in the Middle East," the pope said.

Famine has already been declared in parts of South Sudan; Nigeria, Yemen and Somalia are on the brink of it.

Are Nigerian, Zimbabwean, Pakistani and other immigrants “stealing” jobs from South Africans?

Catholic bishops in Congo have abandoned attempts to arrange a government-opposition power-sharing agreement, amid rising violence.