At audience, Pope reviews trip to Africa (Vatican News)

At his regular weekly public audience on February 8, Pope Francis gave a report on his voyage to Africa, where “I said ‘No’ to violence, ‘No’ to resignation, ‘Yes’ to reconciliation and hope.

The Pope said that he had long wanted to visit “the green heart of Africa,” of which said, “together with Amazonia, they are the two lungs of the world.”

He decried the exploitation of Africa’s rich natural resources, and the warfare that has bloodied the two countries that he visited: the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan. The latter, he said, is “a victim of the old logic of power and rivalry.”

The Pontiff said that on his “ecumenical pilgrimage of peace” to South Sudan had continued an effort to foster dialogue in that country. He also condemned the corruption that mars African politics, and the arms trafficking that exploits violence.