Will Pope silence the guns in DR Congo and South Sudan?

KINSHASA, DR Congo

Pope Francis begins his tour of the Democratic Republic of Congo on January 31 with a message of peace and reconciliation, a trip that is hoped to bring the much-needed balm in the conflict-scarred nation.

The Catholic Church in Kinshasa says purpose of “the pastoral trip of Pope Francis to the Congo is to invite the Congolese men and women to intensify prayer to heal the wounds of all kinds in the manner of the Good Samaritan towards each other to face together the real perils of the country’s upheavals, the symptoms of which are visible today.”

When he touches down in Kinshasa, the head of the Roman Catholic Church will be making his 40th trip abroad since he ascended to the papacy. But DRC, the 59th country in his itinerary, is just as unique as the 60th, South Sudan. He will stay in Kinshasa until February 3 when he departs for the Juba tour with Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby.His trip to the DR Congo is themed “All Reconciled in Jesus Christ” and he has spoken passionately about the importance of letting the Congolese decide their future, subtly lampooning foreign players for looting local resources while conflict rages.

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"The Democratic Republic of Congo ... it’s like a fortress, a bastion of inspiration. You only have to look here in Rome at the Congolese community,” he told Mundo Negro Magazine, run by the Comboni Missionaries in Spain, earlier in January.

"I have been looking forward to this trip, wishing it to be as soon as possible. South Sudan is a suffering community. (Even) Congo is suffering at this time due to armed conflict, which is why I am not going to Goma, since it is not possible due to the fighting. It’s not that I’m not going because I’m afraid, but with this (volatile) atmosphere and seeing what is happening... we have to take care of people.”

Pope Francis’ initial trip to the two countries back in July 2022 was postponed due to a knee problem. Now, the timing could not have been better. The pontiff comes to the region amid high tensions between DRC and its neighbour Rwanda over security breaches and accusations of support for armed groups hostile to both governments.

This week, Kinshasa declined a mediation offer by Qatar which is keen to have the two sides climb down and give peace a chance. Sources in Kinshasa said President Felix Tshisekedi withdrew from the Doha talks, in spite of earlier indicating willingness to the Qataris, after a former aide gave an interview saying Kinshasa had approached Kigali to end their feud and agree on business cooperation.

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The official, whom Kinshasa says has since been detained, had claimed DRC approached Rwanda to help reach out to investors in the mineral refining sector in exchange for rapprochement.

Sources indicated the official’s claim had infuriated President Tshisekedi, who last year suspended business dealings with Rwanda in protest over Kigali’s alleged support of the M23 rebel group fighting the Congo army in the east.

When this week’s talks fell through, Doha was reportedly furious. The Qataris have an obvious stake in harmony between Rwanda and DR Congo: They are investing in the aviation business in Rwanda, whose growth requires more routes to places such as Kinshasa and other Congolese cities.

Then on Tuesday, the Rwandan military shot at a Congolese military jet over alleged breach of its airspace, raising more heat in an already simmering situation.

While the exact airspace in which it was shot at was unspecified, Rwanda said it had taken “defensive measures” against what it said was Congolese aggression.

"At 5.03pm, a Sukhoi-25 from the DRC violated Rwandan airspace for the third time,” said a brief statement from the Rwanda Defence Forces.

The Sukhoi-25, however, managed to land at Goma airport in North Kivu, eastern DRC. The DRC government said that the plane was “attacked as it began its landing on the runway of Goma International Airport.”

"The Rwandan fire was directed at a Congolese aircraft flying inside Congolese territory. It did not fly over Rwandan airspace in any way,” the statement from DRC said.

Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Vincent Biruta accused the DRC of disregarding peace agreements and using Rwanda as a scapegoat for “issues that date back to colonial times.”

In an address to the Lower Chamber of Parliament on Thursday, Mr Biruta said that the DRC had boycotted mediation meetings and continued to violate the African Union 1977 Convention for the Elimination of Mercenaries in Africa by hiring mercenary groups, a claim that the DRC has denied.

"Most of the mediation meetings are requested by the DRC and yet they boycott or disregard what we discuss with them. The goal is to distract the international community as they continue to provoke Rwanda,” Minister Biruta said.

He said Rwanda was ready to defend its sovereignty since peace agreements have been ineffective.

Kinshasa made similar accusations against Rwanda on Tuesday, after Rwanda shot at its military jet.

Kinshasa termed the firing of the missile “a deliberate action that amounts to an act of war whose objective is to sabotage the ongoing efforts in the implementation of the actions agreed upon in the framework of the peace process.”

Kinshasa was referring to the Luanda mini-summit of regional leaders whose aim is to seek a solution between the escalating tensions.

Both countries accuse one another of fanning rebel movements against authorities in each other’s territories.

At the summit in November, the DRC and Rwanda committed to seeking peace. Huang Xia, the UN Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region said he was deeply concerned with the incident and asked the Expanded Joint Verification Mechanism (EJVM) of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) and other regional instruments to “help ascertain the facts surrounding this incident and address any misunderstanding.”