Wheelchair users in DRC await Pope Francis visit

Pope Francis, who began using a wheelchair last year, is visiting two countries where years of conflict have disabled many, and remain one of the world’s most difficult places for accessibility. Francis is due to arrive in the Congolese capital Kinshasa on Jan. 31 for a three-day visit, and then he plans to head to South Sudan.

Francis has spoken about how today’s “throwaway culture” wrongly marginalizes disabled people. He said people with different abilities enrich the church and teach it to be more human. Vatican’s ambassador to Congo added that seeing Francis using a wheelchair encourages people with disabilities to "identify, in a way, even more with him.”