ROME –
Pope Francis on Saturday urged the peoples and leaders of the Congo and South Sudan to “turn the page” and forge new paths of reconciliation, peace and development.
Francis issued a video message on the day he had planned to begin a week-long pilgrimage to the two African countries. He canceled the scheduled trip last month due to knee pain that makes it difficult for him to walk and stand.
In the message, Francis said he was “very disappointed” at not being able to travel and promised to visit “as soon as possible.”
He urged the people of both countries not to be robbed of hope despite the violence, political instability, exploitation and poverty that he said had afflicted them for so long.
“You have a great mission, all of you, starting with your political leaders: it is to turn the page to open new paths, new paths of reconciliation and forgiveness, of serene coexistence and development,” Francis said.
He said political leaders owe the pursuit of such goals to young people who dream of peace “and deserve to see those dreams come true.”
“For them, above all, it is necessary to lay down arms, overcome all resentment and write new pages of fraternity,” the Pope said.
He was joined in the broadcast of separate video messages by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and the Moderator of the Church of Scotland, the Right Reverend Dr. Iain Greenshields, who reportedly accompanied Francis on the South Sudan leg of the trip. . In their messages, they expressed disappointment at the postponement of the visit, but urged South Sudanese to continue working for peace.
“Peace requires much more than not being at war. It must be created together, with your fellow leaders and even with your enemies,” Welby said in his message. Greenshields urged South Sudanese to “voice the words of Jesus that ‘Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called children of God'”.
While Francis was unable to travel, he is due to celebrate a special Mass at St. Peter’s on Sunday for the Congolese community in Rome. He sent his number 2, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, to visit both the Congo and South Sudan on the days he was supposed to be there.
The Catholic Church has always played a role in the Congo, especially in establishing democracy and defending human rights. The church deployed around 40,000 poll watchers in the 2019 election that brought Felix Tshisekedi to the presidency. Tshisekedi, an opposition figure, defeated then President Joseph Kabila’s handpicked candidate in what was Congo’s first peaceful and democratic transfer of power since independence from Belgium in 1960.
There were high hopes for peace and stability once South Sudan gained its long-fought independence from Sudan. But it slipped into ethnic violence in December 2013. A 2018 peace deal uniting President Salva Kiir and his deputy Riek Machar in a unity government encourages authorities to hold elections before February 2023. .