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"Hands off Africa": Pope Francis denounces "economic exploitation" during visit to DRC

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Pope Francis denounced what he called the "economic exploitation" for mineral resources helping to drive conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as he began a visit there on Tuesday, saying the rich world could no longer ignore the tragic plight of many African nations.

The 86-year-old Francis is the first pontiff to visit Congo since John Paul II in 1985, when it was still known as Zaire. About half of Congo's population of 90 million are Roman Catholics.

Addressing dignitaries at the presidential palace, the Pope condemned "terrible forms of exploitation, unworthy of humanity" in Congo, where vast mineral wealth has fuelled war, displacement and hunger.

"Hands off the Democratic Republic of the Congo! Hands off Africa! Stop choking Africa: it is not a mine to be stripped or a terrain to be plundered," he said.

Congo has some of the world's richest deposits of diamonds, gold, copper, cobalt, tin, tantalum and lithium, but those have stoked conflict between militias, government troops and foreign invaders. Mining has also been linked to inhumane exploitation of workers, including children, and environmental degradation.

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global news, pope francis, Hands off Africa
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