Pope Francis called for the weapons of hatred and revenge to be laid down in South Sudan

He Pope Francisco reiterated this Sunday his call for the weapons of hatred and revenge to be laid down in South Sudana country seeking to implement peace accords after a civil war.

“In the name of Jesus, of his Beatitudes, let us lay down the weapons of hatred and revenge to take up prayer and charity; let us overcome the antipathies and aversions that, over time, have become chronic and threaten to pit tribes and ethnic groups against each other; Let’s learn to put the salt of forgiveness on wounds, which burns but heals.” said at a mass before about 70,000 people at Juba’s John Garang mausoleum.

“And, although the heart bleeds from the blows received, let us renounce once and for all to respond to evil with evil and we will feel good inside” added.

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He Pope Francisco was received with joy by the Catholics of the country, who represent about 36% of the population and who are experiencing a harsh humanitarian crisis due to the war and natural disasters, for which about 75% of them have to live on international aid .

“We Christians, even when we are fragile and small, even when our forces seem few to us in the face of the magnitude of the problems and the blind fury of violence, we can make a decisive contribution to change history”add.

It should be remembered that the Pope arrived in South Sudan last Friday and was accompanied by the leader of the Anglican Church, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and the moderator of the Church of Scotland, Iain Greenshields.

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His arrival responded to the objective of implementing the peace agreement that was signed between the different factions in 2018 and that they promised to comply with during the retreat in the Vatican.

In this sense, the Pope managed to get President Salva Kiir Mayardit to commit to lifting the blockade that he maintained in order to sit down and negotiate the peace agreement with the resistance groups.