dpa
Kinshasa
Pope Francis on Wednesday offered a prayer for an end to violence on the African continent during a Mass in the Congolese capital Kinshasa attended by more than 1 million people.
"Brothers and sisters, peace be with you,” the pontiff said in the local language, before urging a crowd that gathered since dawn at the N’Dolo military airport to "cooperate with everyone, to break the cycle of violence, to dismantle the machinations of hatred.” Pope Francis arrived the previous day on a six-day trip to Congo and South Sudan, during which he plans to promote peace and charity after decades of bloodshed in both countries.
"May it be a good time for all of you in this country who call yourselves Christians but engage in violence [to accept forgiveness].
The Lord is telling you: ‘Lay down your arms, embrace mercy.’” said the 86-year-old Church leader.
Earlier, Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi also emphasized this message of peace by saying how the world had failed to stop the "enemies of peace,” amidst terrorist groups from abroad threatening and attacking his fellow citizens for three decades. "Because the international community does not intervene and is silent, tens of millions have already died,” he said.
But the scenes on Wednesday were joyful as hundreds of thousands of believers flocked - singing and dancing - to the airport for the ceremony, many wearing clothing made of fabrics depicting Francis.
Authorities put the number of people at more than 1 million, making this one of the largest crowds ever to attend a papal Mass.
The record is still held by the Philippine capital of Manila, where 6 million people attended a fair to see the pope at the beginning of 2015.
The huge amount of visitors at the Congolese papal Mass echoed the excitement of past papal events, such as during the late John Paul II’s term.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has a population of more than 100 million - almost half of them Catholic, according to the Vatican - the Pope’s word carries considerable weight.
This became all the more important amid fresh violence in the east on the country’s borders with Rwanda and Uganda. Francis’ visit is "a sign of encouragement and consolation,” said Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, the archbishop of Kinshasa.
"Francis is a good man,” said an attendee, who had travelled 300 kilometres from his home to attend the event. "I’ve heard a lot about him, but I wanted to come here to see him for myself.” Later on Wednesday, the pope is scheduled to meet aid workers and victims of violence.