Pope Francis’ visit to Congo and his ecumenical pilgrimage to South Sudan put a face — actually, thousands of faces — on the horror of war.

Pope Francis expressed his “spiritual closeness” and “solidarity” with those affected by a pair of powerful earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria Feb. 6.

At the end of six days in African countries bloodied by war and conflict, Pope Francis said that “the biggest plague” afflicting the world today is the weapons trade.

The papal property at Castel Gandolfo, with its vast gardens and diverse livestock, will now be the home of a new scientific and educational center dedicated to promoting integral ecology, sustainability, and a circular and generative economy.

Pope Francis, Anglican Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury and the Rev. Iain Greenshields, moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, made history Feb. 3 when they began an ecumenical pilgrimage to the world’s youngest nation, but one that has known war and violent conflicts for nine of the 11 years since independence.

While Pope Francis was “on mission” in Africa he urged consecrated persons to embody the church’s missionary spirit in spreading the Gospel.

An independent commission just published the results of a two-year study providing shocking details about the background, pseudo-spirituality and “mechanisms of abuse and control” of the late Jean Vanier and his mentor, the late Dominican Father Thomas Philippe.

The hands that will save Congo and build a future worthy of its people belong to the Congolese people, to each one of them, but especially the young, Pope Francis said.

Victims of violence in eastern Congo told Pope Francis horrifying stories of watching their families be slaughtered or of being kidnapped or raped repeatedly by militia members.

In a country where most people are Christian and all are suffering from decades of violence and atrocities, Pope Francis told the Congolese to lay down their weapons and their rancor.