PAPAL VISIT SOUTH SUDAN: Pope Francis Calls for Laying Down Weapons of Hatred and Revenge
Pope Francis Addressing Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Juba South Sudan
Ginaba Lino
His Holiness Pope Francis has on Sunday 04 February 2023 called on the people of South Sudan to lay down weapons of hatred and take up prayer and charity.
His Holiness Pope Francis who have spent three days in South Sudan made the call in his homily to South Sudanese at the Capital of Juba.
“Let us lay down the weapons of hatred and revenge, in order to take up those of prayer and charity.”
He appealed to the South Sudanese to overcome hatred, pitting of tribes and ethnic groups against each other.
“Let us overcome the dislikes and that over time have become chronic and risk pitting tribes and ethnic groups against one another.”
He advised South Sudanese to learn how to apply the salt of forgiveness to their wounds.
“Let us learn to apply the salt of forgiveness to our wounds; salt burns but it also heals. Even if our hearts bleed for the wrongs we have suffered, let us refuse, once and for all, to repay evil with evil, and we will grow healthy within.”
He said, salt has been a symbol of wisdom and the people of South Sudan should be the salt that gives good test.
“Dear brothers and sisters, I pray that you will be salt that spreads, dissolves and seasons South Sudan with the fraternal taste of the Gospel.”
His Holiness quoted the Gospel of Matthew (Mt 5:13-14) describing how important is salt to Human life.
He said Jesus uses the image of salt after teaching his disciples the Beatitudes citing that it’s an example to practice wisdom among the People of South Sudan.
“What kind of wisdom does Jesus mean? He uses the image of salt immediately after teaching his disciples the Beatitudes. We see, then, that the Beatitudes are the salt of the Christian life, because they bring the wisdom of heaven down to earth.”
Pope Francis urged the enter believers of South Sudan put the Beatitudes into practice.
“If we put the Beatitudes into practice, if we embody the wisdom of Jesus, we will give savour not only to our own lives, but also to the life of society and of the country in which we live.”
He Salt served as a reminder of the basic need to preserve the relationship of human life with God, because he is faithful to his sons.
“Salt thus served as a reminder of our basic need to preserve our relationship with God, because he is faithful to us, and his covenant with us is incorruptible, inviolable and enduring.”
By being a salt of earth who bears witness shows capability of people building good human relationships as a way of curbing the corruption of evil.
“As the salt of the earth, we are called to bear witness to the covenant with God with joy and gratitude, and thus show that we are people capable of creating bonds of friendship and fraternal living.”
“People capable of building good human relationships as a way of curbing the corruption of evil, the disease of division, the filth of fraudulent business dealings and the plague of injustice.”
Pope Francis also prays for entire Christians Communities across South Sudan to continue shedding the light of goodness.
“May your Christian communities shine radiantly, so that, like cities built on a hill, they will shed the light of goodness on all and show that it is beautiful and possible to live with generosity and self-giving, to have hope, and together to build a reconciled future.”
He assures South Sudanese on his prayers to God so that one day they will experience joy of the Gospel.
“I am with you and I assure you of my prayer that you will experience the joy of the Gospel, the savour and the light that the Lord, “the God of peace” (Phil 4:9), the “God of all consolation” (2 Cor 1:3), desires to pour out upon every one of you.”
He encouraged each and every South Sudanese to love one another with sincerity and generosity.
“Let us accept one another and love one another with sincerity and generosity, as God loves us. Let us cherish the good that we are, and not allow ourselves to be corrupted by evil!”
