Pope wraps up Africa visit with call for peace

Pope Francis gave his last words of blessings to an estimated 100,000 congregants — the majority of whom spent the whole night of Saturday at John Garang's mausoleum to attend a prayer mass — conducted by the Pontiff.

The Pontiff called on South Sudanese to embrace peace and reconciliation and stay with the hope of returning South Sudan to stability. Speaking in Italian, he assured the people that the Vatican would continue to journey with South Sudanese toward peacemaking.

"We will continue to accompany your steps and do all we can to make them steps of peace, steps to peace, and I would like to entrust the path of reconciliation and peace," the Pope stressed.

The pope arrived last Friday in the capital, Juba, together with Justine Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and Iain Greenshields, the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.

The Catholic, Anglican, and Presbyterian leaders aimed to push Kiir and Machar to recommit themselves to the 2018 deal.

The three also aimed to put a global spotlight on the country's plight, oil-rich and yet one of the world's poorest, where humanitarian needs are soaring for the 2 million people displaced by continued clashes and years of above-average flooding.

They raised, in particular, the plight of women in a country where sexual violence is rampant, child brides are common, and the maternal mortality rate is the highest in the world.

A push for reconciliation

The Pope also begged the South Sudanese people to lay down their weapons and forgive one another.

"Even if our hearts bleed for the wrongs we have suffered, let us refuse, once and for all, to repay evil with evil," Francis was quoted by AP. "Let us accept and love one another with sincerity and generosity, as God loves us."

His message aimed to revive hopes in the world's youngest country, which gained independence from the majority Muslim Sudan in 2011 but has been beset by civil war and conflict.

President Salva Kiir, his longtime rival Riek Machar, and other opposition groups signed a peace agreement in 2018. Still, the deal's provisions, including forming a unified national army, need to be implemented, and fighting has continued to flare.

Pilgrims walk for the pope 

Some 64 South Sudanese Christians took a pilgrimage from the Catholic Diocese of Rumbek to Juba, covering a distance of around 308 kilometers to come and attend the Pope's visit.

Cesar Yai Mayak joined the long walk ever in his life as a venture because he wanted to be inspired by the visit of the Pontiff toward his future dream.

"For me, I need to become a priest in the future; that is my dream, and that is why I struggled to walk and come and see him the long distance. Walking sleeping in a bad place, but I don't mind about it, I said I just want to see him," Cesar said.

Natalima Andrea, a 66-year-old mother of seven who wiped a tear from her eye as she waited for Francis' mass to begin, hoped the Pope's prayers would yield peace. "We have suffered a lot," she was quoted by AP. "We need permanent peace now, and I hope these prayers will yield to lasting peace."

Pope's visit, a historic milestone

President Salva Kiir described the ecumenical pilgrimage as a historic milestone in South Sudan.

"This historic visit of these prominent global Christian leaders must compel us to engage in deep thinking about our recent history, especially on how it relates to the noble task of peace consolidation and the important projects of reconciliation and forgiveness among our people," the president said.

The three religious leaders on Saturday met with victims of the country's conflict, which broke out in late 2013, to hear their testimonies. Despite a peace deal that was signed nearly five years ago, South Sudan has achieved little success in reconciling former warring parties.

In addition, the peace pilgrimage was marred by the murder of 27 civilians, mainly by cattle herders in Kajo-keji — a town in South Sudan. 

Stephen Ameyu, the Archbishop of the Catholic Diocese of Juba, while bidding his farewell remarks during the end of service of the Holy Father, expressed great frustration with the country's little effort to restore peace and stability in the country.

"It is discouraging that the peace process has moved forward so slowly. Your Holiness, we share your fatherly concern for the restoration of peace in our country."  Ameyu called on the Holy See to help South Sudan restore stability in the country.

The Pope in Africa

Pope Francis' stop in South Sudan followed a four-day visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo, another resource-rich country plagued by persistent conflict and often overlooked by the world.

South Sudan and the DRC have been ravaged over decades of conflict and have seen millions displaced along with countless deaths.

The trip — Francis's fifth to Africa — was initially scheduled for 2022 but had to be postponed because of the Pope's health concerns.

Edited by: Chrispin Mwakideu