Pope arrived in Sudan, other church leaders due on Friday

RELIGIONS NEWS AGENCY (REDNA) – Pope Francis arrived in Sudan and the other church leaders join him on Friday and the historic pilgrimage to South Sudan is hoped to expand peace there.

Speaking ahead of the three-day visit commencing on Friday, Dr Greenshields told the “Religion Media Centre” that this would be a “crucial moment” during the occasion, which has been dubbed a “peace pilgrimage”.

Also, tens of thousands of people are expected to join a “prayer moment” in South Sudan during a historic visit by Pope Francis, the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and the Church of Scotland Moderator, the Rev Dr Iain Greenshields

Following decades of conflict, South Sudan gained independence from predominantly Muslim Sudan in 2011. Two years later inter-ethnic conflict spiralled into a civil war that killed 400,000 people, and in 2018 a deal reduced, but did not stop, the fighting.

The Pope’s visit was promised during a spiritual retreat at the Vatican in 2019, when South Sudanese political leaders committed to working together. The Pope knelt to kiss the feet of the warring leaders urging them not to return to civil war. The visit had been scheduled for last summer but was postponed due to the pontiff’s ill health.

In an online RMC briefing, Dr Greenshields said: “We are going to meet people very much on the edge and beyond that, but we are also going to be having a prayer moment with about 50 to 60,000 people present.

“That will be a crucial moment when all the churches come together along with people from South Sudan.

“There have been people walking for many days just to be able to be there.

“We will call upon God to help this young nation to find a way forward together.”

The “pilgrimage” is part of the Pope’s Apostolic Journey to the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan.

Ahead of the first-ever papal visit to South Sudan, Pope Francis said the country has been “wracked by years of war” and “longs for an end to the constant violence that forces many people to be displaced and to live in conditions of great hardship.”

Frequent floods have also devastated the world’s youngest country, leading to displacement of thousands of people who have lost their homes, farms and livelihoods. The combination of climate change, war and rising global costs heralds a humanitarian crisis, with an estimated two thirds of the population facing food insecurity.

Earlier this week the Archbishop of Canterbury issued a statement ahead of the visit saying: “Our visit is a Pilgrimage of Peace. We come as servants – to listen to and amplify the cries of the South Sudanese people, who have suffered so much and continue to suffer because of conflict, devastating flooding, widespread famine and much more.

“Over the past three years and even since July, violence has intensified in many parts of the country. We hope to review and renew the commitments made by South Sudanese leadership at the Vatican in 2019, and the commitments they have made to their people since then.”

The dignitaries will meet President Salva Kiir on Friday, as well as other key members of the national authorities and civil society.

The following day they will meet bishops and clergy at the Cathedral of Saint Therese, as well as numerous internally displaced people. There will be an ecumenical prayer at the mausoleum to John Garang, the founding father of South Sudan, and the Pope will return there on Sunday to celebrate Mass.

The significance of this visit must not be underestimated, according to Dr Greenshields. He told the online briefing: “This is historic because it’s the first time the Pope and what you might call reformed leaders have worked together doing something since the Reformation.”

He added: “We come with that sense of ‘we are together and we are trying to promote, by just our own experience, that people can be together and work together’.”

When asked about the involvement of the Church of Scotland, he said: “The Presbyterian church in South Sudan feels a strong connection with Scotland.

“We are very honoured to be those who have been asked to come.”

Tom Delamare, CAFOD’s deputy country representative for South Sudan, told the briefing that organisers hoped the visit will not only focus on reconciliation, but the environment too.

“The communities in South Sudan are on the frontline of climate change and it’s a key driver of displacement and food insecurity,” he said.

Lucy Gillingham, of Jesuit Missions, recently returned from South Sudan which she said has experienced “some of the worst flooding in almost 50 years” leading to “millions of people being displaced”.

The effects of the flooding are “much bigger than people can see,” she added, giving an example of children using mosquito nets to fish – therefore putting themselves at increased risk of malaria.

Christians, primarily Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Presbyterian, account for about three-fifths of South Sudan’s population, which is why this trip is so important, said Mr Delamere.

“The church is able to bring those in power around the table and reach across divisions,” he added.

Dr Greenshields said he hoped that the visit might become a “template for further action”, adding: “It speaks to the world in which we live, saying ‘look those Christians are together and are speaking with one voice’.

“That’s what Jesus would have wanted and what he asked of us.”