Pope Francis took a message to the rich world on his visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo. He said, Hands off Africa. What Happened: The pontiff commenced his tour of Congo on Tuesday and said the rich world should value people more than the precious minerals in the earth beneath them.
The 86-year-old Francis said that Africa is not a mine to be stripped or a terrain to be plundered.
It is a tragedy that these lands, and more generally the whole African continent, continue to endure various forms of exploitation. He made a reference to Congo and said that The poison of greed has smeared its diamonds with blood, reported Reuters.
Why It Matters: Congo has rich deposits of diamonds, gold, copper, cobalt and lithium, noted by Reuters.
The violence arising out of the 1994 genocide in neighboring Rwanda has rocked the eastern part of the country, according to the report.
5.7 million people have been internally displaced by the violence, while 26 million people are suffering from severe hunger, according to the United Nations data.
The international community has practically resigned itself to violence devouring Congo, according to the Pope. He said that the African nation was trying to preserve its territorial integrity against deplorable attempts to fragment the country. The report says that the Argentinian-born pontiff is due to fly to South Sudan next year, another nation that is mired in conflict and poverty.