Pope wraps up Congo visit, heads to volatile South Sudan

FILE PHOTO: Pope Francis attends a meeting with priests, deacons, consecrated persons and seminarians at the Our Lady of the Congo Cathedral during his apostolic journey, in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, February 2, 2023. REUTERS/Yara Nardi

KINSHASA (Reuters) -Pope Francis wraps up an emotional visit to Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday and heads to neighbouring South Sudan, another nation struggling to overcome decades of conflict and grinding poverty.

The country's woes were underscored on the eve of his arrival, when 27 people were killed in South Sudan's Central Equatoria state in tit-for-tat violence between cattle herders and a local militia.