PAPAL VISIT SOUTH SUDAN: ‘Remember Moses who Led God’s People Through the Desert’: Pope Francis To Bishops, Clergy, and Religious in South Sudan
Andrew Kaufa smm
Pope Francis has on his second day of ecumenical pilgrimage urged the Catholic priests, Religious, deacons and seminaries in South Sudan to do everything they can and with courage, patience and a sense of sacrifice in order to become pastors and means of salvation for God’s people.
In his address to the over five hundred pastoral workers that gathered in Juba’s Saint Theresa Cathedral on the morning of Saturday, 4th February 2023, the Holy Father reflected on two characters that are characteristic of Moses in the Book of Exodus which are his meekness and the intercessory role he played to bring God’s salvation to his people Israel.
On the meekness of Moses, Pope Francis said that this is clearly expressed in Moses’ surrendering of his personal will to God’s salvific plan for his people who well slaves in Egypt. Instead of pursuing his personal plans, Moses responded in docility to God’s initiative of liberating the Israelites and leading them through the desert.
He then connected this experience to the call of the clergy and consecrated men and women in South Sudan saying, “At times, something similar happens in our own lives as priests, deacons, Religious and seminarians: deep down, we can think that we are at the centre of everything, that we can rely, if not in theory at least in in practice, almost exclusively on our own talents and abilities.”
In this way, the Holy Father whose gestures expressed appreciation of the congregation’s prophetic ministry in the country, challenged those priests and Religious who think that they can find answers to the sufferings of God’s people in their own human cleverness, power, resources and money. Instead, he insisted that it is by allowing themselves ourselves to be shaped in meekness by God that they too shall experience be purified and renewed by the divine fire so as to become His instruments for the salvation of their suffering brothers and sisters.
On Moses’ intercessory character, Pope Francis reflected on the staff which Moses carried and raised so that God may work wonder even when the Israelites had sinned by worshiping the golden calf (Ex. 32:31-32).
“If we want to be pastors who can intercede, we cannot remain neutral before the pain caused by acts of injustice and violence,” said Pope Francis as he urged the priests and Consecrated person in South Sudan to also become play an intercessory for their people, first by being close to them, and then by raising their voices against any form of injustice, abuse of power, oppression and violence.
“Brothers, these prophetic hands, outstretched and raise, demand great effort. To be prophets, companions and intercessors, to show with our life the mystery of God’s closeness to his people, can cost us our lives,” said Pope Francis as he urged the congregation to learn from the life testimony of Sr Regina and many other priests and Religious men and women who have been victims of violence, and even lost their lives.
