Pope Francis' planned visit to South Sudan rekindles the flame of hope which indicates that all impediments are surmountable and that peace, the ultimate goal of people, is in the offing.
The Holy See Press Office has announced that His Holiness Pope Francis intends to fulfill a long-awaited visit to South Sudan from 5 to 7 July 2022 after having accepted invitations from the head of state and bishops.
The title due to be given to this planned visit is that it is "a visit for the consolidation of peace, security, and harmony" in South Soudan where the feuding parties "shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks." (Isaiah 2:4)
Pope Francis' planned visit will corroborate the fact that no matter how hostility exists, it will one day be replaced by brotherly ties as well as by peace that guarantees the progress of this nascent nation which has been embroiled over the years by several waves of violence, instability, and torn apart by a civil war.
This visit will definitely strengthen the tenuous peace forged by this African country’s leaders following a spiritual retreat held at the Vatican. As Pope Francis has been tireless in pushing for peace in this world’s nascent nation, he invited South Sudan's leaders to the Vatican for an Easter summit in April 11, 2019. During his meeting with the leaders of the warring parties in the Vatican, the Pope said, "To the three of you who signed the Peace Agreement, I ask you, as a brother, remain in peace. I ask you from the heart. Let us move forward. There will be many problems, but don’t be afraid, go forward, resolve the problems.”
During Russian Patriarch Kirill recent meeting with Apostolic Nuncio to the Russian Federation Archbishop Giovanni D’Agnello, at the Patriarchal Residence at the Danilov Monastery in Moscow, he stated that His Holiness Pope Francis “makes an important contribution to the creation of peace and justice among people.”
The South Sudan's Catholics have been looking forward for this long-awaited papal visit which will open avenues for the attainment of the peace that the South Sudanese have been aspiring to bring about since independence. Jesuit Fr. Augustine Ekeno, who serves at St. Teresa Parish in the Rumbek Diocese, had earlier said that such a visit “would bring some hope to the people in this country who have suffered for many years and who feel abandoned."
This upcoming visit will further corroborate the role of the Catholic Church as a patron of global peace and a supporter of brotherly relations bearing in mind that South Sudan President Salva Kiir earlier said, “The government cannot do without the Church.” This assertion firmly confirms the vital role needed by the Catholic Church in this regard.
It is also important to recall that Pope Francis launched his third Fratelli tutti (All Brothers) which deals with fraternity and social friendship. In this encyclical the Pope indicates that fraternity and social friendship are the ways to build a better, more just and peaceful world, with the contribution of all peoples and institutions. It is an emphatic confirmation of a ‘no’ to war and to globalized indifference.
As great aspiration are hinged on this visit, it is hoped that the Pope Francis, the Pope of Peace, will help defuse tension and consolidate a strongly-founded peace in this country.
