The highest representative of the Catholic Church concluded his African pilgrimage this Sunday, February 5, in South Sudan, after a first stop in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In his unprecedented visit to the Sudanese territory, the world’s youngest country, Pope Francis made clear his drive to put an end to years of conflict that have claimed the lives of thousands of people, especially after the separation of Sudan in 2011.
An African pilgrimage driven by peace. Pope Francis finished his second and last stop on his African tour in South Sudan on February 5.
There, the pontiff urged resistance to the “poison of hate” so that its inhabitants can achieve the calm, security and prosperity that have eluded them during years of bloody ethnic conflicts.
“Although our hearts bleed for the evils we have suffered, let us refuse, once and for all, to return evil with evil (…) Let us accept each other and love each other with sincerity and generosity, as God loves us”, stressed the maximum representative of the Catholic Church in a country of different religious traditions, but predominantly Christian.
During his stay in this, the youngest country in the world after its separation from Sudan in 2011, Francis’ message was insistent and clear: revive hopes for an end to fighting.
In the nation, which gained independence from its Muslim-majority neighboring territory, the spiral of violence has deepened and has not stopped since the outbreak of the civil war in 2013.
“We have suffered a lot (…) We need a permanent peace now and I hope that these prayers produce a lasting peace,” said Natalima Andrea, a mother of seven children, wiping away tears as she waited for Francis’ mass to begin.
VIDEO: After two years of delay cause by the pontiff’s troubled knee, Pope Francis finally makes his promised visit to South Sudan – the first papal visit to the country since it gained independence from Sudan in 2011. pic.twitter.com/DvWl2tR4OJ
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) February 5, 2023
Although government forces, loyal to President Salva Kiir, and opposition ranks, which back First Vice President Riek Machar, signed a peace agreement in 2018 that committed the two parties to share power and form a unified national army , the implementation of this pact has been slow and violence between rival communities and fighting continue to break out.
“Dear brothers and sisters, I return to Rome with you even closer to my heart (…) Never lose hope. And don’t miss any opportunity to build peace. May hope and peace dwell among you. May hope and peace dwell in South Sudan!”, stressed the Pope, a position that he repeated during his speeches before the country’s president Salva Kiir, since he arrived in the nation last Friday, February 3.
His repetitive request would not be in vain, since on the first day of the papal visit the head of state publicly promised that he would resume talks with the armed groups that did not sign the peace agreement more than four years ago.
Although it is an unprecedented visit, the first Latin American Pope in history has shown a long-standing interest in stability in South Sudan. In one of his most notable gestures, he knelt to kiss the feet of the country’s formerly warring leaders during a meeting at the Vatican in 2019.
Uniting religious traditions at the center of the effort to call for change in South Sudan
In a determined attempt to motivate action, for the first time in Christian history, leaders of the country’s three main traditions – Catholic, Anglican and Presbyterian – paid a joint visit to one nation.
Francis was accompanied by the leader of the Anglican Church, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and the moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, Iain Greenshields, on what was dubbed a “peace pilgrimage.”
Edmund Yakani, executive director of the Community Empowerment Organization for Progress, assesses that the visit of the three religious leaders was an important boost to the peace process.
It was a “critical exposition of our political leaders towards their personal responsibility to make peace and stability prevail in the country,” the expert remarks.
Francisco, Welby and Greenshields also called for change in the face of famine in the country, rich in oil and yet one of the poorest in the world, where humanitarian needs are skyrocketing for the two million people who have been displaced. because of the continuing fighting.
Allegations of corruption by control agencies are also widespread. A scourge that once again was highlighted when some inhabitants noted the contrast between the modest papal vehicle and the luxurious cars of local officials.
South Sudan has some of the largest oil reserves in sub-Saharan Africa. Even so, a 2021 UN report indicated that the territory’s leaders have siphoned off “staggering amounts of money and other wealth” from public coffers and resources.
The “pilgrimage for peace” urged an end to gender violence
The three religious leaders raised the plight of women in a country where sexual violence is rampant, child brides are commonplace and the maternal mortality rate is the highest on the planet.
“If we look at South Sudan, I would only use one word: South Sudan is a patriarchal country,” said Elizabeth Nyibol Malou, an economics professor at the Catholic University of South Sudan, citing cultural norms in which wealth is passed on. male heirs and women are forced to marry young. A scenario that makes keeping girls in school a constant struggle.
Francis also brought hope of peace to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the nation with the largest Roman Catholic community in Africa. There the Pope celebrated a mass for a million people and heard heartbreaking stories from people affected by the war, especially in the eastern part of the country.
The Vatican’s top representative urged the faithful to build “good human relations as a way to curb the corruption of evil, the disease of division, the filth of fraudulent business and the plague of injustice.”
With Reuters, AP and EFE
