Pope Francis in South Sudan

Who can forget the sight of Francis dropping to his knees to kiss the feet of South Sudan’s top political leaders? The Pope made this unexpected gesture to the shock of everyone in the room at a retreat convened at Santa Marta on April 11, 2019. Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, leader of the Church of England recalled: “Tears were running down every face there, including the BBC cameraman.” Francis nearly prostrated himself before these secular leaders to express his profound request that they unite and overcome political differences to focus on the good of the nation. After the brutal civil wars of 1955-1972 and 1983-2005, a referendum in January 2011 paved the way for South Sudan’s political independence. Unfortunately, the euphoria of that momentous achievement would be short-lived when power struggles between President Kiir and Vice President Machar over unresolved issues of oil revenues, ethnic representation, and citizenship laws precipitated unprecedented political instability that plagued its citizens since December 2013. Their rivalry mutated into ethnic-based violence that spread destruction across the perilously poor country between 2013 and 2018.

These posters were done for the Papal visit in 2022, postponed for now.

As a result of the renewed bonds formed in Rome and multilateral incentives, Kiir and Machar formed a unity government in February 2020. Kiir, a churchgoing Catholic, was very moved by Pope Francis’ challenge in Rome, and he said: “May the whole-hearted search for peace resolve disputes, may love conquer hatred, and may revenge be disarmed by forgiveness.” So, this is not a papal visit, but an ecumenical pilgrimage. In South Sudan, Pope Francis will be joined by the Anglican leader Welby, as well as the Church of Scotland’s international ambassador, Presbyterian Rev. Iain Greenshields. Bringing together Catholic, Episcopalian and Presbyterian leaders meant aggregating the only organizations representing the beleaguered South Sudanese people — some 6.7 million of the 11 million population is Christian. A little more than 600,000 (around 6%) is Muslim. A major reason why he is traveling to the impoverished, war-torn African country on Friday is because he assured President Salva Kiir that if Kiir and his political rivals forged a unity government committed to peace — which they did in January 2020 — then the Holy Father, together with leaders from the Church of England and Church of Scotland, would strive to come in person, to encourage the world’s newest nation.

Organizing the ecumenical pilgrimage is a way of recognizing extraordinary work being done in the country. For example, facing a vast range of needs, Catholic men and women religious from some 30 congregations invented a new way to serve: Known as ‘Solidarity With South Sudan’, the ministry collaborates across religious orders and concentrates its most intensive programs on training teachers, health care workers and midwives. About 700 teachers, trained at a two-year teacher-training college in Yambo, while 290 students graduated from the Catholic Health Training Institute, mainly nurses and midwives. The civil war killed more than 400,000 people and displaced another more than 4.5 million. In this country, 88% of women cannot read or write; 82% of the population lives in poverty; and only 10% have access to basic sanitation. Thank you Pope Francis for bringing healing to this new nation.