Pope Francis delivered his Christmas Urbi et Orbi blessing in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on December 25, 2022 (photo by Andreas Solaro/AFP).
On the final day of his pilgrimage to South Sudan, the 86‑year‑old pontiff appealed to the nation’s people to lay down their “weapons of hatred.” Speaking at an open‑air Mass in the John Garang Mausoleum in Juba, he urged, “Let us lay down the weapons of hatred and revenge. Let us overcome the dislikes and aversions that over time have become chronic and risk pitting tribes and ethnic groups against one another.”
Large crowds of ecstatic worshippers streamed into the mausoleum, waving national flags and singing “Welcome holy father to South Sudan.” The pope moved through the throngs in his popemobile before delivering the Mass to an audience local authorities estimated at around 70,000. This was the first papal visit to the largely Christian country since its independence from mainly Muslim Sudan in 2011, a split that was followed by a civil war that claimed nearly 400,000 lives. Although a peace deal was signed in 2018 between President Salva Kiir and his deputy Riek Machar, many of its provisions remain unfulfilled and violence continues, forcing millions into displacement camps.
The wheelchair‑bound pontiff, who previously tried to broker peace during the civil war, received a rapturous welcome throughout his trip. “I came to see the pope bring change to the country. For many years we’ve been at war, but we need peace. We want the pope to pray for us,” said 24‑year‑old James Agiu, who stayed overnight to join the Mass at the mausoleum built in honor of South Sudan’s rebel hero John Garang, killed in a helicopter crash in 2005. “I arrived last night. I’ve been waiting here… After he goes, I sleep,” Agiu added, laughing.
On Saturday, Francis met victims of the civil war brought from various camps to Juba and urged the government to resume the peace process and restore dignity to the millions affected by conflict. With 2.2 million internally displaced people and another two million refugees abroad, South Sudan faces the worst refugee crisis in Africa. “I have been suffering in my life. That is why I’m here, so the pope can bless me and my family,” said 32‑year‑old Josephine James at Sunday’s Mass. “Ever since he arrived, people have been happy. I am very happy.”
The papal visit has been closely followed in the devoutly Christian nation of 12 million, where church leaders played a key role in protecting civilians during the independence struggle and the 2013‑18 ethnic conflict. In a pointed Friday speech, Francis told the country’s leaders they must make “a new start” toward reconciliation and end the greed and power struggles tearing the nation apart. “Future generations will either venerate your names or cancel their memory, based on what you now do,” he warned an audience that included Kiir and Machar. “No more bloodshed, no more conflicts, no more violence.”
Francis had promised in 2019 to travel to South Sudan after hosting Kiir and Machar at a Vatican retreat and urging them to respect the ceasefire. In a symbolic gesture, he knelt and kissed the feet of the two foes, whose personal armies had been accused of horrific war crimes. Yet four years later, the oil‑rich country remains mired in intractable conflict, compounded by poverty, hunger and natural disasters. The challenges were underscored when at least 21 people were killed in a cattle raid on the eve of the pope’s visit, described by local authorities as a reprisal attack in Central Equatoria state.
Francis’s stop in South Sudan followed a four‑day visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo, another resource‑rich nation plagued by persistent conflict and often overlooked by the world. The trip—his fifth to Africa—was originally scheduled for 2022 but was postponed due to problems with the pope’s knee.
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