Pope Francis stopped to pray at a monument near Rome's Fiumicino airport before beginning his trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The monument honors thirteen Italian airmen who were part of a United Nations contingent sent to Kindu, in the then Republic of Congo, to restore order after a crisis. All of them were killed between November 11 and 12, 1961.
Once at the airport, Pope Francis greeted security personnel and used a forklift to board the plane, as he has done for his last few trips due to his knee pain.
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TR: KG
