AMECEA: Eastern Africa Bishops Grateful for Pope Francis’ Ecumenical Visit to South Sudan, Say: “It was Like a Retreat”
Bishop Charles Sampa Kasonde
Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA
Days after the visit of Pope Francis and other Church leaders to the world’s youngest nation of South Sudan, Catholic Bishops from the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA) have sent their gratitude to the Holy Father terming the three-day visit a period of “retreat.”
In the message shared with AMECEA Online Friday, February 17, the Chairman for the association Bishop Charles Sampa Kasonde appreciated the ecumenical pilgrimage journey of the three Church leaders noting that it was a moment of “love and solidarity with the people of God and the Church in the country of South Sudan.”
Highlighting some of the encouraging messages shared by the Holy Father the Chairman said, “Your Holiness, in that Cathedral of Saint Teresa, we felt encouraged to note that you are aware of how hard it is for the bishops, priests and Consecrated men and women to work in South Sudan and other similar conditions in Africa and beyond. Yet you urged us to always be close to God, wrestle with Him with great patience, and beg that He does not abandon his people.”
He continues, “In fact, this ecumenical pilgrimage became like a three-day retreat to us. And we felt it that indeed through us the bishops, priests, Consecrated men and women including our catechists, God is present among his people, identifying with their suffrage and working for their liberation.”
Bishop Kasonde of Solwezi Catholic Diocese in Zambia, has acknowledged the message of the Pontiff to the bishops, priests, Consecrated men and women and seminarians on his reflection on the River Nile in relation to the tears of the people who are immersed in suffering despite the abundance of God’s grace that surrounds them.
He narrated, “You reminded us of the story of Moses in the context of the salvation history and urged us to become intercessors of our people who are docile to God’s initiative, together standing prophetically “purified and enlightened by the divine fire with the art “of standing in the middle of our brothers and sisters” who are suffering and in tears like Moses who “stretched out his hand over the sea.”
The message to political authorities which the Pope insisted should become like River Nile “the springs that water the life of the community” as opposed to pausing as catalysts of violence and intergenerational disruption,” Bishop Kasonde says in his Friday message, “It moved the hearts of your sons and daughters in the entire region where up to now they hear your words re-echoing, “No more bloodshed, no more conflicts, no more violence and mutual recrimination.”
“For us the bishops, listening to you reminded us of the plea of Pope Saint John Paul II to the Community of Sant ’Egidio in 1986, “to never tire of spreading the message of peace to the world, in the spirit of Saint Francis of Assisi,” the Prelate added.
The Chairman, on behalf of all the bishops in the region, underscored that the ecumenical visit with the Archbishop of Canterbury Most Rev. Justin Welby and the Moderator of the Church of Scotland Rt. Rev. Dr. Iain Greenshields “shall remain a memorable occasion to the people of South Sudan and a powerful testimony of your (Pope Francis) conviction about Christian unity and inter-religious dialogue especially in AMECEA region where the people who have experience so much social conflicts and violence need to hear consoling messages that challenge their thinking and bring forth encouragement and hope.”
In conclusion, the Church in AMECEA region promises continued prayers for the Holy Father and requests for the same, hoping that the pilgrimage journey may bear fruit in Sudan and the entire continent of Africa.
