According to U.N. authorities, Pope Francis' recent visit to war-torn South Sudan with two other well-known Christian leaders sent a strong message about the need for peace in the region's newest country.
Pope Francis and two other notable Christian leaders brought the necessity for peace in the world's newest nation home during a recent tour.
According to U.N. authorities, Pope Francis' recent visit to war-torn South Sudan with two other well-known Christian leaders sent a strong message about the need for peace in the region's newest country.
The pope's trip, which took place from February 3–5, included the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, and the Rev. Iain Greenshields, moderator of the Church of Scotland.
According to Nicholas Haysom, special representative of the U.N. secretary-general, this trip "served to echo the message of peace, reconciliation, tolerance, and civic participation often called for by the South Sudanese themselves."
Pope Francis urged South Sudanese political leaders to unite for the benefit of the East African people and end years of war during that visit. In addition, the pope emphasized the value of young participation in discourse and the involvement of women in national decision-making.
During the briefing at the U.N. headquarters in New York, Haysom told OSV News, "I think we can point to the beneficial influence of the ecumenical pilgrimage (by) the archbishop of Canterbury, His Holiness the pope, and the moderator of the Church of Scotland to South Sudan.
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According to Haysom, they shared many of the concerns South Sudan's civil society raised over the previous year. Until independence in 2011, South Sudan was part of Sudan, Africa's largest country. A civil conflict between the primarily Muslim north and the largely Christian South had been raging for decades.
Following gaining independence, conflict among South Sudan's new leaders quickly turned into civil war, which is thought to have resulted in hundreds of thousands of fatalities and immense suffering.
Some ethnic violence persists despite a 2018 peace accord that ended the bloodiest conflict and established a transitional administration. Over 20,000 peacekeepers now serve with the U.N. Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) to protect civilians and achieve permanent peace in the conflict-affected country of more than 10 million people.
According to Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for the U.N. secretary-general, the pope's visit there in February—joined by Archbishop Welby and Rev. Greenshields—should be helpful in this regard.
"Religious leaders have an excellent opportunity to promote goodness and peace. The pope, the Canterbury archbishop, and the Church of Scotland moderator made a joint trip to South Sudan, which I believe was quite significant. "On March 6, during a U.N. briefing at midday, Dujarric responded to a query from OSV News.
He remarked that religious leaders must use their influence and position for good.
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