At least 15 people died in the Democratic Republic of the Congo when the volcano Mount Nyiragongo erupted on Saturday night. The city of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, is only eight to 11 miles south of the volcano.
The pope prayed for the victims on Sunday after he prayed the Regina Caeli:
Let us also pray for the populations of the city of Goma, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, forced to flee due to the eruption of the great volcano, Mount Nyiragongo.
The city has a population of some 2 million. For the most part, the lava flows avoided the city, but thousands evacuated, some into neighboring Rwanda.
The last eruption of the volcano was in 2002.
The Democratic Republic of Congo is already facing so many challenges.
At the same time, the country has one of the largest Catholic populations in the world.
While it is only some 30% Catholic, that comes out to some 30 million Catholics.
And today we celebrate...