SOUTH SUDAN: Pope Francis Set to Visit South Sudan in July, Vatican Announced

Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA

The Holy Father is expected to visit the world’s youngest nation of South Sudan in the month of July, a trip he had expressed desire to make way back in 2017.

“At the invitation of their respective Heads of State and Bishops, His Holiness Pope Francis will make an Apostolic Journey to the Democratic Republic of Congo from 2 to 5 July 2022, visiting the cities of Kinshasa and Goma and to South Sudan from 5 to 7 July, visiting Juba,” reads a declaration of the Director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni on Thursday, March 3.

Bruni who has been at the helm of the Holy See Press Office since July 2019 and the first non-journalist to hold the office, narrated further that, “The programme and further details of Pope Francis’ journey will be announced in due course.”

Pope Francis’ visit in July will be his third Papal trip to Sub-Saharan Africa after vising Kenya, Uganda and the Central Republic in 2015 and then Mozambique, Mauritius and Madagascar in 2019 where he reminded the people that “Peace without love, without friendship, without tolerance without forgiveness is not possible.”

In a video clip published by Rome Reports Thursday, March 3, “Visiting South Sudan has been long in Pope Francis’ mind (and) he made his deep concern over the visit in the country and made it very clear in the April of 2019 when he and the archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby met with the warrying leaders (of South Sudan) at the Vatican and implored them to choose peace.”

Besides visiting one of the countries of the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA), South Sudan the Pope will also visit cities Kinshasa and Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo.