The exhortation is contained in the homily to the crowd of parishioners who attended the mass offered at the capital’s airport of Ndolo in which the pontiff could not officiate due to mobility problems he suffers.

This cycle of violence prevented Francis from visiting the city of Goma (east), capital of the province of North Kivu, where the Congolese army, supported by Ugandan forces, is fighting with members of the Tutsi militia March 23 (M23).

He also urged the faithful to believe that ethnic, social and religious differences are not obstacles to coexistence, that ‘all humans are brothers and everyone is a recipient of peace.

The DRC accuses Rwanda, its northern neighbor, of supporting the M23 to gain control of the vast mineral resources in the area, an allegation that the government in Kigali refutes even though two reports by UN experts confirm it.

jrr/arm/mem/msl.