On his first day in South Sudan on Tuesday, Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin said Pope Francis wants to see lasting peace and reconciliation in the world’s youngest nation.
“It’s a great joy to be with you and to be able to stay for a few days to celebrate, to lead people and to pray, to meet people on behave of Pope Francis,” Cardinal Pietro said while addressing reporters at Juba Airport.
He added, “We feel we are very much in communion with the Holy Father on this day. He is very concerned about the reconciliation and peace of South Sudan and he is following the good development that is taking place. He will assure you and the population of the Church with the authorities in his prayers and spiritual support.”
Pope Francis’s envoy landed in Juba this morning paying his ecumenical visit on behalf of the Holy Father whose visit to South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo was postponed due to severe knee pain.
The Vatican envoy will meet President Salva Kiir Mayardit and First Vice President Dr Riek Machar. After his meetings with the country’s leadership, the envoy is scheduled to visit the Bentiu IDP camp on Wednesday and hold a public mass at the Dr John Garang Mausoleum on Thursday.
Meanwhile Senior Presidential Adviser Kuol Manyang said: “Pope Francis will be coming. That’s why he has sent ahead his representative and the secretary of state of Vatican to come to Juba and see the preparation that’s being made for the coming of his holiness.”
Kuol underscored that the papal visit is a sign of the coming of peace in South Sudan. “We know his holiness, Pope Francis, when he met our leaders in the Vatican, he had to kneel down and kiss their feet, praying for peace and pleading to them to make peace for the people of South Sudan.”
On Friday, Cardinal Pietro will visit Usratuna and the Catholic University of South Sudan after holding a mass at St. Paul Major Seminary before his departure for the Vatican.