Pope Francis departs from Kinshasa for South Sudan

Pope Francis has ended his three-day visit to Congo and flown on to South Sudan, where the head of the Catholic Church was due to land in the capital Juba at around 3 pm (1300 GMT) on Friday.

The Christian-majority republic hopes the Holy Father’s visit can help curb or end violence and conflict in many parts of the country.

Before flying out of Kinshasa on Friday, the pontiff met bishops in the Congolese capital, which he called “the green heart of Africa” and “a lung for the whole world.”

Francis encouraged the bishops in their work.

The Catholic Church is popular in the country of more than 100 million people – this was also evident from the euphoria shown to the pope during his visit.

“Thank you, because you are a lung that gives breath to the universal Church!” said Francis. (dpa/NAN)