On January 31, the Pope will arrive in Kinshasa, the Congolese capital. There he will be received at the Palace of the Nation, the official residence of the President of the Republic. Later, he will meet with the authorities, civil society and the diplomatic corps.
The following day, February 1, Francis will celebrate Mass at Ndolo airport and in the afternoon he will visit the victims in the east of the country and meet with the heads of some charitable associations at the Apostolic Nunciature.
On February 2, the Pope will meet with catechists and youth, followed by an afternoon meeting in the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Congo with consecrated persons, deacons, seminarians and priests. At 18:30 Francis will have a private meeting with members of the Society of Jesus at the Apostolic Nunciature.
On his last day in Congo, the Pope and the bishops will meet at the Bishops' Conference and then take a plane to South Sudan. He will be accompanied on this leg of the trip by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the representative of the Church of Scotland. The first thing he will do upon arrival in Sudan will be to meet with President Salva Kiir Mayardit and the vice presidents of the Republic. The last thing that day will be a meeting with the civil authorities and the diplomatic corps.
On February 4, Francis will be at the Cathedral of St. Theresa with bishops, deacons, seminarians, priests and consecrated men and women. He will also meet privately with the Jesuits. Later, he will be with the country's internally displaced persons, those people who have had to leave their homes but have remained within the borders. Finally, there will be an ecumenical prayer at the John Garang Mausoleum.
On the last day of the apostolic journey, the Supreme Pontiff will celebrate Mass at the Mausoleum and, after a farewell ceremony, will return to Rome.
