Pope Francis plans to visit Congo and South Sudan in July

By NICOLE WINFIELD and JEAN-YVES KAMALE
Associated Press
ROME (AP) — The Vatican says Pope Francis is planning to visit Congo and South Sudan in July. Francis is scheduled to visit Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, and the city of Goma on July 2-5. And the Archbishop of Canterbury will join him for the South Sudan leg in the latest ecumenical effort to solidify peace in the country. The pope plans to stay in Juba, South Sudan, from July 5 to July 7. The trip will be one of Francis’ longest in years and his third to sub-Saharan Africa. He visited Kenya, Uganda and the Central African Republic in 2015 and Mozambique, Mauritius and Madagascar in 2019. The Vatican announced the July trip on Thursday. Francis also visited Egypt in 2017.