SOUTH SUDAN: Pope Francis Appeals for an End to Violence

Pope Francis on Sunday appealed for an end to violence in
South Sudan, to ensure access to humanitarian aid and for the promotion of
peace.

In a letter addressed to Archbishop Paulino Lukudu Loro
of Juba, read at Mass on Sunday morning by Cardinal Peter Turkson, President of
the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, who is in South Sudan on a mission
to pray with the people there, the Pope, entreated all parties involved to
“tirelessly seek peaceful solutions, enabling the common

Good to prevail over particular interests”.

The letter, which carried the signature of Cardinal
Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin, decried “the fighting that has cost
the lives of many innocent people and caused deep wounds and divisions which will
take many years to heal”.

It continued: “We see daily how armed conflicts are
generating poverty, hunger, sickness and death, and we cannot remain
indifferent to these realities. We are likewise deeply grieved by the dramatic situation
of those many men, women and children forced to flee their native lands and
live in camps as refugees or exiles, in conditions unworthy of their human
dignity and in which they are no longer seen as persons but as nameless
statistics”.

It quotes the Letter of Pope Francis to H.E. Mr. Vladimir
Putin, President of the Russia Federation, on the occasion of the G20 St Petersburg
Summit in September 2013 which says “We know that without peace there can
be no development”.

“For this reason the Holy Father addresses a
pressing appeal to all parties involved, so that, with the support of the
international community, they may put an end to hostilities and acts of
violence, ensure access to humanitarian aid for the needy, and tirelessly seek peaceful
solutions, enabling the common good to prevail over particular interests”.

The letter continues saying that Pope Francis “urges
us to promote the culture of encounter. This means first and foremost,
rejecting self-centeredness and insistence on one’s own rights without concern for
the rights of others. It means seeing in others, not competitors or, worse
still, enemies, but rather brothers and sisters to be accepted and with whom to
work. The commitment to create a climate of constructive social creativity must
prevail over selfishness and the thirst for power, with a clear recognition
that human beings, with their legitimate moral, ethical, and social
aspirations, are always prior to the State and the various powers which might
in some way seek to subject them”.

“These weeks of Lent” – the letter says –
“help us to follow Jesus Christ, present in his Church, the ultimate and
definitive foundation of our lives and the certainty of our hope. Only when we
recognize the presence of Christ are we able to face the future with
confidence, without fear and illusion. This liturgical season is a privileged moment
for undertaking a path of purification and conversion of mind and heart. Only
in this way will we be able to uproot all the falseand seductive promises of happiness
which enslave us. It is imperative for our consciences to be converted to
justice, fraternity and sharing! In imitation of our Master, we Christians are
called to open our eyes to the needs of our brothers and sisters, and to assume
our responsibility to work concretely towards alleviating them (cf. Lenten message
of our Holy Father Francis 2014).

The letter concludes underlining the fact that while
condemning every act of violence, the Catholic Church “will remain present
and work generously in providing every possible form of assistance, especially for
the sake of reestablishing a climate of dialogue, reconciliation and peace
among all the members of society”.

SOURCE:
Radio Vatican