Democratic Republic of the Congo–Holy See relations election. Democratic Republic of the Congo–Holy See relations Democratic Republic of the Congo–Holy See relations refers to the current relationship between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Holy See. 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. The DRC maintains an embassy near Vatican City while the Holy See has an apostolic nunciature in Kinshasa. The current Congolese ambassador in the Vatican is Jean-Pierre Hamuli Mupenda (since
Holy See weakened the authority of the Holy See throughout much of Europe. Following the French Revolution, the Papal states was briefly occupied as the "Roman Republic" in 1798–1799 as a sister republic of the First French Empire under Napoleon, before the territority was reestablished. Notwithstanding, the Holy See was represented in and identified as a "permanent subject of general customary international law vis-à-vis all states" in the Congress of Vienna in 1814-1815. The Papal States was recognised under the rule of the Papacy and largely restored to their former extent. Despite the Capture of Rome in 1870 by the Kingdom of