PAPAL VISIT SOUTH SUDAN: “The Future of South Sudanese cannot Lie in Refugee Camps” Says Pope Francis
Pope Francis along with Archbishop Welby
Sr. Henriette Anne FSSA
Pope Francis together with Archbishop Justin Welby and Rev. Iain Greenshields on their second day of peace pilgrimage in South Sudan, met the Internally Displaced People (IDPs) on Saturday afternoon at Freedom Hall in Juba. Pope Francis once again appealed for the “end of the conflict in South Sudan and to resume the peace process in South Sudan in a serious way, so that violence can end and people can return to living with dignity”.
He said, “only with peace, stability, and justice can there be development and social reintegration”.
Following the testimony of Nyanti who represented the women during the meeting, Pope Francis in his view said, “If mothers and women receive the proper opportunities, through their industriousness and their natural gift of protecting life, he said, they will have the ability to change the face of South Sudan, to give it a peaceful and cohesive development!”.
“I ask all the people of these lands, to ensure that women are protected, respected, valued, and honored. Please, protect, respect, appreciate, and honor every woman, every girl, young woman, mother, and grandmother. Otherwise, there will be no future”.
The Holy Father on his Saturday remarks assured the IDPs that he suffers for them and with them. “I am here with you, and I suffer for you and with you”, he said.
The Pontiff thanked Nyanti for her speech and noted that amidst their painful past and the present hardship of displacement, faith and hope for a better future have not been lost.
He further encouraged them to be seeds of hope by choosing fraternity and forgiveness” and weaving “webs of communion and paths of reconciliation” with people of other ethnicities and origins.
Be seeds of hope, which make it possible for us already to glimpse the tree that one day, hopefully in the near future, will bear fruit. True, right now you are ‘planted’ where you don’t want to be, but precisely from this situation of hardship and uncertainty, you can reach out to those around you and experience that you all are rooted in the one human family.”
The meeting ended with blessings from Pope Francis along with Archbishop Welby and Reverend Greenshields.
