Even the day’s painful afternoon assembly with the victims of grotesque crimes within the nation’s embattled east, when survivors put machetes and knives on the ground close to the pope to punctuate the horror of their accounts, appeared to remind him of his mission. “Thanks for these testimonies,” he stated gravely.
And on Thursday, the mere sight of the white Toyota pickup that had been transformed right into a popemobile triggered an eruption within the stadium, already pulsating with music and dancing underneath the searing morning solar.
“The pope travels the world, nevertheless it’s totally different when he comes right here,” stated Iyefa Paulus, 47. “We’re joyous that he has come right here, to face us.”
Laurent Makesa Pasinya, 6, walked across the stands within the pink robes of a cardinal (“He has the vocation,” his mom stated). Puati Longo, 44, wore a leaf-patterned shirt noticed with drawings of Bibles and the motto, “The Bible is my weapon.”
“We’ve got so many difficulties,” he stated, “however the pope coming makes me so pleased.”
When Francis had reached the stage, and an aide rolled his wheelchair to his seat, he took in some performances of conventional dance. Audio system, utilizing the French nonetheless spoken in Congo a long time after throwing off Belgian colonial rule, concluded with impassioned calls of “Vivre le Pape!”
“I’m delighted to fulfill you nose to nose,” Francis stated.
In his speech, he warned the nation’s younger to keep away from the “temptation to level a finger at somebody, to exclude one other individual as a result of she or he is totally different; watch out for regionalism, tribalism, or something that makes you are feeling safe in your individual group.”
