The Latest Breaking News from Democratic Republic of Congo

LGBT+ activists in Democratic Republic of Congo are celebrating the arrival of Pope Francis, whose recent push for the decriminalisation of same-sex relations has given them hope of greater acceptance of their community across Africa.

As Pope Francis visits the DRC and South Sudan, we take a look at previous papal voyages to the continent.

His trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan will highlight the long-running conflicts in both countries and the rising importance of Africa to the future of the Catholic Church.

Pope Francis landed in Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday for a visit that will highlight the human cost of decades of conflict in the vast central African country, which is rich in minerals but where millions are displaced and live in poverty.

Pope Francis is expected in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, from January 31 to February 3. But a platform stage where he was supposed to speak collapsed in the Martyrs Stadium on January 30. Repairs were launched the same day, but some Congolese consider this episode…

Watch as Pope Francis arrived in the Democratic Republic of Congo for a three-day stay in the capital Kinshasa.

Pope Francis will visit the Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday, followed by a trip to South Sudan. He will be delivering a message of "peace and reconciliation" to two sub-Saharan African nations plagued by conflict.

Pope Francis arrived in Kinshasa on Tuesday for a six-day visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and South Sudan, two fragile African nations where protracted conflicts have displaced millions of civilians, sowing death, hunger and despair.

Pope Francis denounced the "poison of greed" driving conflicts in Africa as he began a visit to Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday, saying the rich world had to realise that people were more precious than the minerals in the earth beneath them.