The two states have seen an increase in their cooperation in recent years, and due to the large number of Roman Catholics in the DRC, President Joseph Kabila has made an effort to maintain good relations with the Vatican.

[5] While accepting Ambassador Mupenda's accreditation in April 2010, Pope Benedict XVI spoke about the Kivu conflict, saying that he hoped the state of war would soon end and that a national reconciliation process could take place.

Those included the institutions of Catholic education, teaching of religion in schools, welfare and charitable activities of the Church, pastoral care in the armed forces and prison and hospital institutions, as well as property tax and the obtaining of entry visas and residence permits for religious personnel.

[6][7] On 26 September 2016, President Kabila visited Vatican City and met with Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States of the Holy See.

They discussed the close relations between the DRC and the Vatican and the role of the Church plays in the large Congolese Catholic population, as well as the necessity for a peaceful resolution to the recent political turmoil that has occurred in the country regarding the 2017 general election.