PAPAL VISIT SOUTH SUDAN: Pope Francis’ Bids South Sudan and Africa Farewell with Gratitude, and Prayers for Peace and Christian Witness
Pope Francis bid farewell to South Sudanese after mass
Andrew Kaufa smm
After the farewell ceremony with His Excellency Salva Kiir Mayardit the President of the Republic of South Sudan and on board the Italian Airways A359 as he returned to Rome on Sunday, February 5, 2023, Pope Francis has expressed gratitude to the people of South Sudan for their welcome and hospitality.
“As I leave South Sudan at the conclusion of my ecumenical pilgrimage of peace, I wish to express my heartfelt gratitude to your Excellency, the civil authorities and the beloved people of South Sudan for your warm welcome and hospitality. With renewed assurance of my prayers, I invoke upon the nation the abundant blessing of Mighty God,” reads the telegram message which Pope Francis sent to President Savar Kiir just before the plane departed Juba International Airport for Leonardo da Vinci International Airport of Roma Fiumicino.
Pope Francis has also sent a message to His Excellency Abdel Fattah al Burhan the chairman of the Transitional Sovereignty Council of the Republic of Sudan and President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi of the Arab Republic of Egypt, greeting them as the plane passed through their countries.
“As my return from South Sudan takes me over your country, I send greetings to Your Excellency and your citizens,” read the telegrams where Pope Francis also promises fraternity and his prayers for and peace and God’s blessings.
The Pontiff has returned back to the Vatican, after a successful ecumenical pilgrimage to the Democratic Republic of Congo and to South Sudan, in the company of two other Christian world leaders, the Archbishop of Canterbury Most Rev. Justin Welby and the General Moderator of the Church of Scotland Rev. Ian Greenshields.
In the morning before departure, the three leaders once again came together at John Garang Mausoleum, Juba, where Pope Francis presided a farewell Mass with over 30,000 Catholics of South Sudan, a service which also attracted hundreds of priests, deacons, Consecrated men and women and catechists.
During homily drawn on the first letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians chapter 2:1-5 and the Gospel according to Matthew chapter 5:13-16, Pope Francis once again reiterated his call to political leadership and all the Christians in South Sudan to become witness of Christ who called his disciples to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world
“Salt does not only bring out flavour; it also has a function which was essential at the time of Christ – it preserves food so that it does not get spoilt,” he said urging the Christians in the country to work on giving forth the fraternal taste of the Gospel which is peaceful coexistence.
“You are the light of the world” and “No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house,” he concluded his farewell message adding, “This country, so beautiful yet ravaged by violence, needs the light that each of you has, or better, the light that each of you is.”
