Young people from eastern Congo lay down the machetes and knives used to kill their families at the foot of Christ s cross to symbolize their forgiveness in a moving encounter with Pope Francis during his trip to the country Feb. 1, 2023. / Vatican MediaRome Newsroom, Feb 1, 2023 / 13:07 pm (CNA).In a moving encounter with Pope Francis, children from eastern Congo laid down the machetes and knives used to kill their families at the foot of Christ s cross to symbolize their forgiveness."I place before the cross of Christ the Victor the same knife as the one that killed all the members of my family," Léonie Matumaini from Mbau elementary school told the pope on Feb. 1.The child s heartbreaking witness on the pope s second day in the Congolese capital of Kinshasa served as a shocking reminder of the horrors taking place in the Democratic Republic of Congo s conflict-ridden eastern region.It was one of several wrenching testimonies the pope heard during his encounter with victim
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In an emotional meeting with victims and internally displaced persons, Pope Francis listened to unfiltered accounts of their harrowing recent past, lamenting for those who benefit from the violence to "stop getting rich from resources and money stained with blood."