Thursday a massacre of 21 people near the capital Yuba has exalted the humanitarian hell it inhabits Southern Sudanwhere Pope Francis arrived this Friday afternoon.
In his first speech, Francis urged the authorities to do so stop accusing each other AND keep promises, advancing the peace and reconciliation agreement in an African country that “cries for violence, poverty and natural disasters that torment him”.
“I come as a pilgrim of reconciliation, with the dream of accompanying you on your path of peace, a tortuous path but which it can no longer be postponed”, the Argentine Pope told the country’s authorities in the garden of the presidential palace, after meeting with President Salva Kiir Mayardit and the leader of the opposition and vice president of the government of national unity, Rick Machar.
A historical fact
For the first time in the history of Christianity the heads of three denominations -Catholics, Anglicans and Presbyterians-, landed together at three in the afternoon at the local airport on a visit to the 86-year-old Argentine pontiff, who will continue until Sunday When will you return to Rome?
accompany him the Archbishop of CanterburyJustin Welby and Church of Scotland Moderator Iain Greenshields Engage in Joint Effort to Resume Peace Process and Institutional Normalization suspended due to continuous war episodes between sixty ethnic groups who suffocate this country with their armed clashes.
“We embarked on this ecumenical pilgrimage of peace after hearing the cry of an entire people who, with great dignity, mourn the violence they suffer, the constant insecurity, the poverty that strikes them and the natural disasters that torment them”. added the Pope.
Francis lamented that “these are years of wars and conflicts that seem to have no end, while reconciliation processes and promises of peace remain unfulfilled”.
Jorge Bergoglio explained that “the children of South Sudan they need parents but not leadersdecisive steps towards development and not continuous falls”.
“The time has come to say enough, without conditions and without buts. No more bloodshed, no more conflicts, no more attacks and mutual accusations of the guilty, no more leaving the people thirsting for peace. No more destruction, it’s time to build. We must leave the time of war behind and favor a time of peace, with the foundation of democratic development,” afterwards have been postponed several times the call for elections.
“It’s time to move from words to deeds. The peace and reconciliation process requires a new impetus”. And he concluded: “Many things are needed here, but there is certainly no need for other instruments of death”.
the youngest country
Southern Sudan became independent in 2011 of Sudan, devastated by internal violence which in four decades has caused more than two million dead.
Two years later a civil war broke out in the so-called “youngest of Africa”, which caused another 400,000 deaths.
With rich natural resources, South Sudan is one of the poorest and most devastated countries in the worldwhose population survives largely on international aid.
April 11, 2019 Francis received in the Vatican to the two opposing leaders and in a gesture that caused astonishment He knelt and kissed their feet symbolically, imploring them for peace and unity in their martyred nation.
A peace negotiation is carried out with the mediation of the Community of Sant’Egidio, a powerful Catholic movement neighbor of the pope, who managed to sign independence and peace agreements that ended civil wars in several Third World nations.
One of the main objectives of the visit of the Pope and the two Protestant leaders who accompany him is to resume the “ecumenical path for peace”, suspended due to the violence in this nation of 12 million inhabitants, with 60% Christians.
At this level it is important that the mediation of the Community of Sant’Egidio achieves a decisive result thanks to the visit of the pontiff and other Christian leaders.
A small but shocking misstep was made by the Information Minister on Thursday, who said so “South Sudan will never tolerate homosexuality nor same-sex marriage”, punishable by up to ten years’ imprisonment.
“In this country, homosexual practices I’m a crime”, warned the minister. All recalled that the Pope has reiterated several times that for the Catholic Church homosexual behavior “is a sin, not a crime”.
The minister, in an obvious effort to achieve his stellar moment, made it clear that he did not believe the Pope would come to South Sudan to raise such an issue, but in case he said that if he did, the response would be a resounding “NO.”
The abundance of natural resources, especially oil, which constitutes 98% of South Sudan’s economic revenues, also causes corruption which, according to some sources, places the country in first place in Africa for this great scourge.
Dad will not move from the capital Yuba. This Saturday he will have a meeting with Catholic religious, consecrated women and seminarians in the cathedral of Santa Teresa. You will also have private meetings with Jesuit priests in South Sudan.
He will also have a meeting with IDP delegations in the Freedom Hall. He will then lead an ecumenical prayer at the mausoleum dedicated to independence leader John Garang.
He will return to the John Garang mausoleum on Sunday to officiate Mass.
He will later participate in a farewell ceremony in his honor at Juba airport and will leave on a special plane to return to Rome. He will arrive at Fiumicino airport at 17:30 local time, four hours less in Argentina.
Vatican correspondent
ap
Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.