JUBA: Pope Francis ended a peace mission in South Sudan on Sunday urging the people to immunize themselves against the “venom of hate” to achieve the peace and prosperity that have eluded them during years of bloody ethnic strife.
francis presided over an open-air mass on the grounds of a mausoleum for South Sudanese liberation hero John Garang, who died in a helicopter crash in 2005 before the predominantly Christian country split from Muslim Sudan in 2011.
The 86-year-old pope weaved his homily around the themes that dominated his journey to the world’s newest nation – reconciliation and mutual forgiveness for past wrongs. The crowd sang, drummed and shouted as Francis entered the dusty area.
He pleaded with the crowd of around 70,000 people to avoid the “blind fury of violence”.
Two years after independence, South Sudan plunged into a civil war that claimed 400,000 lives. Despite a 2018 peace deal between the two main antagonists, fighting has continued to kill and displace large numbers of civilians.
At the end of the service, in a farewell address shortly before heading to the airport to return home, the Pope thanked the people of South Sudan for the affection shown to them.
“Dear brothers and sisters, I return to Rome with you even closer to my heart,” he told them. “Never lose hope. And do not miss any opportunity to build peace. May hope and peace dwell among you. May hope and peace dwell in South Sudan!
The pope has a long-standing interest in South Sudan. In one of the most notable gestures of his papacy, he knelt down to kiss the feet of the country’s previously warring rulers during a meeting at the Vatican in 2019.
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and Iain Greenshields, moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, accompanied the pope on his visit to South Sudan.
The “peace pilgrimage” was the first time in Christian history that leaders from the Catholic, Anglican and Reformed traditions made a joint visit abroad.
Earlier in his trip to Africa, the Pope visited the Democratic Republic of Congo, home to the largest Roman Catholic community on the continent, where he celebrated Mass for a million people and heard harrowing stories from people wounded by the war in the east of the country.
Among those worshiping at Sunday mass in Juba, the South Sudanese capital, was Ferida Modon, 72, who lost three of her children in the conflict.
“I want peace to come to South Sudan. Yes, I believe his visit will change the situation. We are now tired of the conflict,” she said. “We want God to hear our prayers.”
Jesilen Gaba, 42, a widow with four children, said: “The fact that the three churches have come together for the good of South Sudan is a turning point for peace. I want this visit to be a blessing for us. in the war, we lost a lot of people.”
Francis made another call to end the tribalism, financial misdeeds and political cronyism at the root of many of the country’s problems.
He urged the people to build “good human relations as a way to fight against the corruption of evil, the disease of division, the filth of fraudulent business transactions and the scourge of injustice.”
South Sudan has some of the largest crude oil reserves in sub-Saharan Africa, but a 2021 UN report said the country’s leaders had embezzled “staggering amounts of money and other wealth” from coffers and public resources.
The government dismissed the report and denied accusations of widespread corruption.
francis presided over an open-air mass on the grounds of a mausoleum for South Sudanese liberation hero John Garang, who died in a helicopter crash in 2005 before the predominantly Christian country split from Muslim Sudan in 2011.
The 86-year-old pope weaved his homily around the themes that dominated his journey to the world’s newest nation – reconciliation and mutual forgiveness for past wrongs. The crowd sang, drummed and shouted as Francis entered the dusty area.
He pleaded with the crowd of around 70,000 people to avoid the “blind fury of violence”.
Two years after independence, South Sudan plunged into a civil war that claimed 400,000 lives. Despite a 2018 peace deal between the two main antagonists, fighting has continued to kill and displace large numbers of civilians.
At the end of the service, in a farewell address shortly before heading to the airport to return home, the Pope thanked the people of South Sudan for the affection shown to them.
“Dear brothers and sisters, I return to Rome with you even closer to my heart,” he told them. “Never lose hope. And do not miss any opportunity to build peace. May hope and peace dwell among you. May hope and peace dwell in South Sudan!
The pope has a long-standing interest in South Sudan. In one of the most notable gestures of his papacy, he knelt down to kiss the feet of the country’s previously warring rulers during a meeting at the Vatican in 2019.
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and Iain Greenshields, moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, accompanied the pope on his visit to South Sudan.
The “peace pilgrimage” was the first time in Christian history that leaders from the Catholic, Anglican and Reformed traditions made a joint visit abroad.
Earlier in his trip to Africa, the Pope visited the Democratic Republic of Congo, home to the largest Roman Catholic community on the continent, where he celebrated Mass for a million people and heard harrowing stories from people wounded by the war in the east of the country.
Among those worshiping at Sunday mass in Juba, the South Sudanese capital, was Ferida Modon, 72, who lost three of her children in the conflict.
“I want peace to come to South Sudan. Yes, I believe his visit will change the situation. We are now tired of the conflict,” she said. “We want God to hear our prayers.”
Jesilen Gaba, 42, a widow with four children, said: “The fact that the three churches have come together for the good of South Sudan is a turning point for peace. I want this visit to be a blessing for us. in the war, we lost a lot of people.”
Francis made another call to end the tribalism, financial misdeeds and political cronyism at the root of many of the country’s problems.
He urged the people to build “good human relations as a way to fight against the corruption of evil, the disease of division, the filth of fraudulent business transactions and the scourge of injustice.”
South Sudan has some of the largest crude oil reserves in sub-Saharan Africa, but a 2021 UN report said the country’s leaders had embezzled “staggering amounts of money and other wealth” from coffers and public resources.
The government dismissed the report and denied accusations of widespread corruption.
