Pope Francis celebrates Mass in DR Congo

Pope Francis on Wednesday celebrated Mass in the Democratic Republic of Congo's capital city of Kinshasa.

Local authorities estimated that over a million worshipers gathered for the ceremony on day two of the pontiff's six-day trip to Africa.

Francis was warmly welcomed by the crowd as he made his way past waving flags in the popemobile.

Earlier, tens of thousands of people made their way to Kinshasa's N'Dolo airport ahead of the open-air Mass and held a vigil ahead of the ceremony. This is the pope's fifth visit to the continent and third to sub-Saharan Africa.

Pope denounces 'poison of greed'

Francis arrived in Kinshasa on Tuesday on the trip originally scheduled for July 2022, but he was forced to postpone it until now because of intense knee pain.

Following the pope's arrival in Kinshasa, the leader of the Catholic Church spoke out against the "poison of greed" that he said was driving conflict in Africa, and said that the world's wealthy needed to understand that people were more valuable than minerals beneath the earth.

"I came to pray and to prepare for tomorrow's prayers, so that God will give me grace to resolve my problems," Patrick Mukaba, a local lawyer told Reuters news agency.

Pope meets victims of violence in eastern Congo

Later on Wednesday, Pope Francis met with victims of violence in eastern Congo, calling upon those who "plunder, scourge and destabilize" to lay down their weapons.

The violence is the result of fighting among several armed groups with historical connections to DRC's neighboring countries like Rwanda.

"Your tears are my tears; your pain is my pain," Francis said, after he sat in silence while he listened to the stories of pain and suffering that people told him.

"To every family that grieves or is displaced by the burning of villages and other war crimes, to the survivors of sexual violence and to every injured child and adult, I say: I am with you; I want to bring you God's caress," he added. 

DRC: Rich in mineral wealth, but among the world's poorest

While DRC has among the world's richest mineral deposits it is considered one of the poorest countries in the world.

Its wealth of gold, diamonds and other precious metals has contributed to decades of conflict, human rights abuses, and illegal exploitation of mineral wealth.

According to the UN, an estimated 5.7 million people are internally displaced due to conflict, while 26 million people face severe hunger.

Thursday will be the last day of the pope's visit in the DRC, after which he travels to South Sudan.

rm, kb/sms (Reuters, AFP)