Pope Francis is due to arrive in South Sudan on Friday on a three-day visit to promote peace and reconciliation in a country still bearing the scars of civil war.

Pope Francis bid farewell to the Democratic Republic of Congo, marking the end of the first leg of his two-nation 40th Apostolic Journey abroad.

According to Vatican News the Pope's flight departed from the “Ndjili” International Airport in the DRC's capital of Kinshasa on Friday at 10:49 AM local time carrying the Pope and more than 70 journalists.

The pope’s flight will land in South Sudan this afternoon and upon the completion of his journey on Sunday, it will mark Pope Francis' fifth Apostolic Visit to the African continent.

He will have visited 60 countries since the start of his pontificate.

The Pope will spend three days in South Sudan on an ecumenical pilgrimage for peace with the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, before returning to the Vatican.

For years, Pope Francis had expressed his strong desire to travel to the predominantly-Christian country, but the unstable situation in the country, along with the Covid-19 pandemic, complicated plans for a visit.

In April 2019, the Pope hosted a spiritual retreat in the Vatican for the political leaders and ecclesiastical authorities of South Sudan and urged them to work for peace and to be worthy fathers of their nation.

The Pope was also forced to postpone the visit to DRC and South Sudan, originally scheduled for July 2022, due to intense knee pain.