Pope Francis comes in South Sudan in historic vacation | News
Juba, South Sudan
News
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Pope Francis arrived in Juba, South Sudan on Friday satisfying a extensive-time would like to visit the war-ravaged country, currently in the midst of a major humanitarian crisis.
In a very first, the Pope is undertaking the excursion jointly with the head of the Anglican Communion, Archbishop Justin Welby, and the Moderator of the Normal Assembly of the Church of Scotland, Rt. Rev. Iain Greenshields, symbolizing the three Christian churches that make up the majority of the population in South Sudan.
“South Sudan, wrecked by several years of war, longs for an conclude to the constant violence that forces quite a few persons to be displaced and stay in conditions of terrific hardship,” the Pope explained just before leaving Rome for Africa on Tuesday.
South Sudan is enduring the third greatest refugee crisis in the world, according to the UN Refugee Agency. Some four million refugees have fled the nation or are internally displaced in South Sudan, about 50 percent of whom are little ones.
South Sudan gained independence from Muslim-greater part Sudan in 2011 immediately after a long time of conflict only to plunge into civil war two years later when preventing erupted among individuals loyal to President Salva Kir and those allied with Vice-President Riek Machar, who is from a different ethnic team.
In April 2019, the Pope held a non secular retreat at the Vatican for political and religious leaders in South Sudan, and in an unparalleled gesture he knelt down and kissed the feet of President Kir and Vice-President Machar.