Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State, will travel to Africa in early July, visiting the countries that Pope Francis had planned to visit.

The Vatican announced on June 27 that Cardinal Parolin will travel to the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan, making stops in Kinshasa and Juba, from July 1 to 8. Pope Francis had been scheduled to travel to those two countries at that time, but was forced to postpone the trip because of disabling knee problems.