Pope Francis On Plane to Africa with 70 Journalists and Prays for Migrants who have Died

On the papal plane Pope Francis prayed for migrants who have died while seeking to cross the Sahara Desert and Mediterranean Sea. He is aboard the papal plane to the Democratic Republic of Congo. This begins his 40th Apostolic Journey. 

The Pope said, 

Good morning and welcome to you all, and thank you for accompanying me on this journey. I have been waiting for a year… It is a beautiful trip. I would also have liked to go to Goma, but with the war we cannot go there. Only Kinshasa and Juba. From there we will do everything. Thank you for being with me, all together. Thank you for your work, which is so good; it helps a great deal, because it enables the images and also your thoughts, your reflections on the trip, to reach the people, who are interested on the journey. Thank you very much. I would like to do the tour but I can't today. I don't know, I can stay here, but I feel a bit ashamed to have you all come here... We can say hello from afar, I don't know... Thank you. Right now we are crossing the Sahara. 

Let us spare a little thought, in silence, a prayer for all the people who in search of a little comfort, a little freedom, have crossed it and have not made it. So many suffering people who arrive at the Mediterranean and after crossing the desert are caught in the lagers and suffer there. Let us pray for all those people. [SILENT PRAYER] Thank you.

He also expressed gratitude to the more than 70 journalists on the flight,  from some 12 countries.  While expressing gratitude to be able to make this long-desired Apostolic Journey to the DRC and South Sudan, the Holy Father also expressed disappointment to no longer be able to visit the Congolese city of Goma due to violence in the area. The Pope exchanged a brief greeting with each journalist, as they came up to greet him aboard the flight. The Pope thanked the press for their work, which enables the visit to reach people around the world.

   

The ITA-Airways papal flight left Rome's Fiumicino International Airport at 8:29 AM local time on January 31st, with the Pope and more than 70 journalists. The flight is scheduled to arrive at “Ndjili” International Airport in the DRC's capital of Kinshasa around 3 PM local time. On Tuesday morning, before leaving his Vatican residence at the Casa Santa Marta, Pope Francis met with about ten migrants and refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan, who are supported, along with their families, by the Jesuit-run Centro Astalli in Rome. Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the Prefect of the Dicastery for Charity, accompanied the group for their visit with the Pope. Edited from Vatican News and https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2023/january/documents/20230131-voloandata-repdem-congo.html