Then he kissed their feet: Pope Francis pushed for peace and justice in Africa’s poorest countries

It was a remarkable moment that shocked everyone in the small Vatican room. Pope Francis, in frail health at the age of 82, rose from his desk and dropped humbly to his knees in front of his African visitors – the two feuding leaders of South Sudan. Then he kissed their feet.

 

“Stay in peace,” he implored them. “I’m asking you from my heart.”

 

The spontaneous gesture in the 2019 meeting, an unprecedented break from Vatican protocol, was a sign of the deep commitment that Pope Francis felt toward Africa’s poorest and most war-ravaged countries. In repeated visits and speeches over the past 12 years, he pleaded for peace, campaigned for justice and bluntly condemned the foreign exploitation and internal corruption that blight many countries on the continent.

 

“It is a tragedy that these lands, and more generally the whole African continent, continue to endure various forms of exploitation,” he said in the Congolese capital, Kinshasa, in a 2023 visit.

 

“Hands off the Democratic Republic of Congo! Hands off Africa! Stop choking Africa: It is not a mine to be stripped or a terrain to be plundered.”

Those words, among the most famous of his papacy, were remembered on Monday by Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi, who called them “a powerful call for justice and sovereignty that remains etched in the hearts of the Congolese people.”

 

Pope Francis visited 10 African countries in five journeys to the continent during his papacy. Among them were some of the poorest and most neglected: Mozambique, Madagascar, Congo, South Sudan and Central African Republic.

 

“May our children not be forced to work, but receive schooling and continue their studies, and may their teachers devote themselves fully to their task, without needing other work to make a decent living,” he said in a prayer in 2019 at a Madagascar stone quarry where hundreds of people toiled for low wages.

 

The Pope’s visits to Africa were also a recognition that the continent has become the Catholic Church’s fastest-growing region, and a crucial source of new vitality for the church. About a fifth of its 1.4 billion followers today are in Africa.

 

In recognition of this reality, Pope Francis took steps to diversify the church’s leadership, appointing a growing number of cardinals from Africa and other developing regions of the world, although the proportion of African cardinals is still smaller than the continent’s share of the Catholic population. Of the 252 cardinals, only 12 per cent are from Africa, according to the Vatican’s figures.

 

While there has never been an African pope in modern history, some analysts have said that it is increasingly possible in the future, although it is seen as unlikely this year.

 

Among those touted as potential papal candidates today are Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana, who is considered relatively liberal on social-justice issues; Cardinal Robert Sarah of Guinea, who is seen as a conservative; and Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo of Congo, the Archbishop of Kinshasa, who is regarded as progressive on environmental and political issues, although he has opposed the blessing of homosexual couples.

 

On Monday, many African leaders praised Pope Francis for his stand on human rights and social justice. “Pope Francis will be remembered for his unwavering commitment to the promotion of peaceful co-existence, his service to the poor and the marginalized, his bold calls for climate justice, his relentless pursuit of dialogue among faiths and cultures, and his enduring efforts to build bridges where others saw walls,” African Union Commission chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf said in a statement.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa lauded Pope Francis for advancing “fundamental human values” and “a world view of inclusion, equality and care for marginalized individuals and groups.”

 

While he strongly supported the African people, Pope Francis did not hesitate to criticize the failures of Africa’s political leaders, including widespread corruption and war-mongering.

 

Four years after kissing the shoes of South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and Vice-President Riek Machar, the Pope made his first visit to South Sudan and spoke candidly about its politicians and their failure to negotiate a lasting peace in a country where hundreds of thousands have been killed in wars since 2013.

 

“No more bloodshed, no more conflicts, no more violence and mutual recriminations about who is responsible for it, no more leaving your people a thirst for peace,” he said, speaking directly to Mr. Kiir and other leaders in the garden of the presidential palace.

 

“No more destruction: It is time to build,” he told them. “Leave the time of war behind and let a time of peace dawn.”

 

 

 

 

 

This article was first reported by The Globe and Mail