On Tuesday afternoon, Pope Francis began a six-day trip to Africa by landing in Congo.
The leader of the Catholic Church told journalists as he boarded his personal aircraft, "I have waited a year for this trip.
Due to knee issues, the trip that was originally scheduled for mid-2022 was postponed.
Francis hopes to spread hope and advance peace during his journey to the impoverished, violent, and disaster-prone nations of the Congo and South Sudan.
Francis is staying in the capital Kinshasa because of the precarious security situation in the country.
“I also wanted to go to Goma really, but because of the war I can’t,” he said on the plane.
In eastern Congo near the border with Rwanda, violence has recently escalated and rebels have repeatedly carried out bloody attacks.
As the plane flew over the Sahara on Tuesday morning on their way from Rome to Kinshasa, the pontiff sought a prayer for those who had crossed the desert in search of some well-being and freedom and did not make it.
He also recalled those who had made it as far as the Mediterranean coast “but were put in camps there and suffered.”
The pope regularly criticises the detention of migrants in North African countries, especially in Libya.(dpa/NAN)