Vatican, 21 November, 2023 / 11:16 am (ACI Africa).
Last week Pope Francis received in audience the bishops of the Republic of Congo on the occasion of their ad limina apostolorum visit.
Leading the bishops' representation was the President of the Episcopal Conference of the Republic of Congo, Monsignor Bienvenu Manamika Bafouakouahou, Metropolitan Archbishop of Brazzaville.
The visit culminated with an audience granted by the Pope to the bishops on Friday, November 17. The Congolese bishops then had the opportunity to meet with the heads of dicasteries of the Roman Curia.
The ad limina visit was scheduled to take place in 2020 but the COVID-19 pandemic forced the postponement: the last ad limina of the bishops of the Republic of Congo had taken place in 2015, and normally such a visit takes place every five years.
Out of a population of about 5 million people, Catholics in Congo are about half.
