Address Upon Arrival in Kinshasa (2 May 1980)

At his arrival in Kinshasa, Zaire, on Friday, 2 May 1980, the Holy Father expressed his joy in visiting the African continent for the first time. 

Mr President,
Mr Cardinal,
Excellencies,
Ladies, Gentlemen,
dear Brothers and Sisters:

God bless Zaire! God bless all of Africa!

1. It is a great joy for me to come to the African continent for the first time. Yes, as I kiss this land my heart overflows with emotion, joy and hope. It is the emotion of discovering the African reality and finding in it that notable part of humanity that deserves esteem and love, and that is also called to salvation in Jesus Christ. It is the Easter joy that invades me and I would like to share with you. It is the hope that a new life, a better life, a freer and more fraternal life is possible on this earth, and to this the Church that I represent can contribute to a great extent. This visit and the meetings that it will provide are thanks that I want to thank the Lord first of all: God be blessed!

2. To all the inhabitants of Africa, whatever their country and origin, I express my friendly and cordial greetings and my feelings of confidence. I first greet my Catholic brothers and sons, and the other Christians. I greet all those who are deeply animated by religious feelings, who ardently desire to submit their lives to God and seek his presence. I greet the families, the fathers and mothers, the children and the elderly. I especially greet those who suffer in body or soul. I salute those who dedicate themselves to the common good of their fellow citizens, in their education, prosperity, health and security. I salute each of the African nations. I rejoice with those who have already taken their own destiny into their hands. I also think of the beautiful heritage of your human and spiritual values, of your meritorious efforts, in all your current needs. Each nation has a long way to go to forge its unity; deepen their personality and their culture; and to carry out the development that is imposed in so many fields and all this within justice and trying to share and be interested in all and to be actively inserted in the concert of nations. For this, Africa needs independence and disinterested mutual aid; he needs peace. To each and every one I express cordial and fervent wishes. For this, Africa needs independence and disinterested mutual aid; he needs peace. To each and every one I express cordial and fervent wishes. For this, Africa needs independence and disinterested mutual aid; he needs peace. To each and every one I express cordial and fervent wishes.

3. I come here as a spiritual Leader, a servant of Jesus Christ in the line of the Apostle Peter and all his Successors, the Bishops of Rome. With my brothers, the bishops of the local Churches, I have the mission of confirming the children of the whole Church in the true faith and love according to Jesus Christ, of watching over their unity and invigorating their witness. A significant number of Africans already profess the Christian faith, and I would like my visit to serve as encouragement to them at this significant stage in their history. Of these Churches, two have specially invited me to the centenary of evangelization, which others are preparing to celebrate as well.

I come here as a man of religion. I highly appreciate the religious sense so deeply rooted in the African soul, and that must not be relegated but rather purify, elevate and strengthen. I appreciate those who are interested in living their existence and building their city in a vital relationship with God, taking into account the moral demands that He has inscribed in the conscience of each one and, consequently, of the fundamental rights of man, of which He is guarantor. With those who have this spiritual vision of man, I share the conviction that materialism, wherever it comes from, is a slavery from which it is necessary to defend man.

I come here as a messenger of peace, eager to encourage peacemakers like Jesus. True love seeks peace and peace is absolutely necessary so that Africa can dedicate itself entirely to the great tasks that await it. With all my African friends, I would like that tomorrow every child on this continent could have food for the body and food for the soul in a climate of justice, security and harmony.

I come here as a man of hope.

4. Without stopping further, I thank Africa for its welcome. I am extremely impressed by the hospitality that has been so generously offered to me by so many countries on this continent for a few months. I have truly found it impossible to accept all the invitations on this first ten-day trip. I have truly felt it and I am thinking above all of the expectations that I would have wanted to satisfy, from some particularly deserving countries and rich in Christian vitality. But they are visits that remain for later. I do hope that in the future Providence will give the Pope the opportunity to carry them out. I firmly hope to return to this continent. From now on, rest assured of my esteem and good wishes to all those countries. In addition, when I address the various themes of my trip and address the different levels of interlocutors, I will think of them, of their merits, joys and worries, human and spiritual. My message is for all of Africa.

:5. And now I turn especially to this country of Zaire, which is in the heart of Africa, and is the first to welcome me. This great country full of promises, which I am happy to visit, this country called for great companies, difficult companies. My first words are to thank the President and his Government, and to thank the bishops for his urgent invitation.

I am aware of the fidelity of a large number of Zairians to the Christian faith and to the Catholic Church, thanks to an evangelization that has progressed very rapidly.

The centenary of this evangelization that I come to celebrate with you, dear friends, is now celebrated. It is good to look at the road traveled in which God has not spared thanks for Zaire; a multitude of Gospel workers came from afar and dedicated their lives to ensuring that you too would have access to salvation in Jesus Christ. And the sons and daughters of this country embraced the faith. This has produced abundant fruits in many baptized. Priests, nuns, bishops, a cardinal, have come from the Zairean people to animate this local Church together with their brothers and give it its true face, fully African and fully Christian, linked to the universal Church that I represent among you. The next few days we will talk about all this again. The prospect of all these encounters gives me deep joy.

God bless Zaire! God bless Africa!

Copyright © Dicastero per la Comunicazione - Libreria Editrice Vaticana