SOUTH SUDAN: Committee Appointed to Oversee Preparations for Pope’s Visit to South Sudan, AMECEA Elated with the Visit
Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA
A four-person committee of men from Sudan and South Sudan Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SSCBC) has been set up to commence the preparations for the upcoming visit of Pope Francis in July that was announced last week Thursday, March 3.
In an interview with the Local Ordinary of Juba Archdiocese Archbishop Stephen Ameyu Martin Mulla about the Conference’ preparations towards the Pope’s visit which is in three moths time, the Prelate said, “As a Conference, we have appointed a four-men committee to begin the work of preparations and the committee will join a government committee.”
Archbishop Ameyu disclosed during the Monday, March 7, interview, that the Conference and the entire nation is delighted with the forthcoming visit anticipating that Pope Fancis’ presence in the country will promote peace among the people.
“As Nation and Church, we feel honored and exulted by the visit of His Holiness Pope Francis to South Sudan,” Archbishop Ameyu who doubles as the Apostolic Administrator of South Sudan’s Torit Diocese, said and continued, “It will be a great moment for all South Sudanese to rally for peace and reconciliation and we hope the Holy Father will encourage all of us to move the path dialogue, peace and justice for the consolidation of peace in the county.”
He appreciates the recent appointments of bishops in the Conference as most dioceses in the country were vacant saying, “We thank the Pope for the appointments of the new bishops as most of the bishops are his appointees.”
He acknowledged the ecumenical aspect of the visit saying, “The visit of his Holiness has an ecumenical dimension. Concurrently, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Moderator of Scotland Presbyterian Church will also be present during visit in South Sudan.”
Pope Francis’ desire to visit South Sudan has been a concern from the time he made his wish 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.
And speaking on behalf of the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA), the Chairman for the association Bishop Charles Sampa Kasonde expressed the region’s joy of hosting the Pope Francis again after his visit to Kenya and Uganda in 2015.
“We are very happy and we are looking forward to receiving our Holy Father, Pope Francis to South Sudan,” Bishop Kasonde of Solwezi Diocese Zambia, revealed in an interview Monday, March 7, adding that, “I am very delighted.”
“The Pope’s visit is of mixed feelings of joy and sadness because he is visiting our brothers and sisters who are torn apart to some extent by war though as at now, there are signs of attaining stability and ensuing peace,” the Chairman said, expounding that the Pope’s visit is a source of joy since “It shows the greatness and magnanimity of the Servant of God who keeps to his words probably against all odds.”
The Zambian Prelate narrated that when the political and the religious leaders visited the Pope in Rome, he gave them “Such a warm reception of even kissing their feet and promised to visit them in South Sudan.”
“This trip is somewhat a fulfillment of his promise and an assurance of his love for the South Sudanese and his commitment to ensuring that peace reigns on the land. It’s a great sacrifice that he is ready to visit us in the AMECEA Region,” he said.
