Pope Francis has cancelled his plan to visit South Sudan this year, according to Vatican spokesman Greg Burke.
The Vatican did not cite a specific reason for postponing the ecumenical visit, and Burke did not elaborate during a Tuesday press conference with journalists.
Francis had previously accepted an invitation to visit South Sudan to preach peace in the country embroiled in inter-ethnic and political after Christian leaders from Catholic, Anglican and Presbyterian churches in South Sudan visited him at the Vatican in October 2016.
South Sudan Church leaders had expected the pope’s one day visit to Juba in October, but the Vatican had never announced the trip officially.
Pope was expected to be accompanied by Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, head of the worldwide Anglican communion, in an effort to promote unity in South Sudan.