Pope Francis, during his visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, condemned “economic colonialism” in Africa. The 86-year-old leader of the Catholic Church said today during a speech at the presidential palace in the capital, Kinshasa, that “political exploitation has given way to an economic colonization that was just enslavement.”
“As a result, this country, so much plundered, has not made adequate use of its vast resources,” he told Congolese politicians and other dignitaries in Italian. “Stop suffocating Africa,” he added, to applause. “It is not a mine being mined or land being plundered.”
That message must be good in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which gained independence from Belgium in 1960. Despite its vast reserves of minerals, timber, and fresh water, the country is one of the poorest in the world. Two-thirds of the population lives on less than $2.15 a day. In addition, violent clashes between armed groups and the army have rocked the largest Catholic country in Africa, with a population of 100 million.
“wait a year”
The Pope had landed in Kinshasa in the afternoon. “We’ve been waiting for this for a year, it’s been a great trip,” the 86-year-old on the plane told reporters traveling with him. The trip to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan was originally scheduled for July 2022 but was postponed due to Francis’ knee problems.
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