Papal Visit to South Sudan to Help Church “engage in reconciliation process”, Bishop Says

The pastoral visit “will be a great encouragement for the Church to be a real instrument of reconciliation and peace through the many works already present in the country, from those of evangelization to those of promoting the integrity of the human person,” the Italian-born member of the Comboni Missionaries (MCCJ) who took canonical possession of Rumbek Diocese on March 25 further says.

When realized, the July 2-7 pastoral trip to DRC and South Sudan will mark Pope Francis’ third visit to sub-Saharan Africa, and the third Papal visit to DRC, which is home to Africa's largest Catholic population.

In the April 6 Vatican News report, Bishop Carlassare says the Holy Father’s visit to the country will have an impact on “all communities” and in a special way, those who “are most discouraged and most marginalized”.

“The Pope’s visit will give an important motivation to the process of pacification that will affect all communities, especially those that are most discouraged and most marginalized,” the Comboni Missionary who served in South Sudan’s Malakal since his arrival in the country in 2005 says.

The Catholic Church leader who served as Parish Priest, formator in the Comboni Province, and Vicar General of Malakal Diocese before he was appointed Bishop of Rumbek goes on to acknowledge the challenge of realizing peace in South Sudan, a country “devastated by years of tribal and political strife, but also severely tried by poverty.”

The Papal visit will also be “the fulfillment of an action begun by the Pontiff long ago to ask for peace in this country”, Bishop Carlassare says, referencing the multiple occasions Pope Francis has expressed his spiritual solidarity with the people of God in South Sudan amid the civil strife that started in December 2013. 

Information about Pope Francis’ visit to South Sudan dates back to 2017 when the Holy Father expressed his desire to undertake an ecumenical visit to the world’s youngest nation alongside the head of the Anglican church.

Credit: Fr. Wanyonyi Eric Simiyu, S.J. (Rumbek)

“My collaborators are studying the possibility of a trip to South Sudan. But why? Because the Anglican, Presbyterian and Catholic Bishops came to tell me: 'Please come to South Sudan maybe just for one day. But don't come alone, come with Justin Welby'", Pope Francis was quoted as saying during a 2017 meeting with the Anglican community at All Saints Church in Rome.

That year, the initiative was halted reportedly because of heightened violent clashes in different parts of South Sudan amid a serious humanitarian crisis.

Pope Francis reiterated his desire to visit the country in April 2019, during the spiritual retreat that brought together the South Sudanese President Salva Kiir Mayardit, the opposition leader, Dr. Riek Machar, and the widow of South Sudanese leader John Garang, Rebecca Nyandeng De Mabior, among other political and religious leaders from South Sudan.

Last December, the Vatican Secretary for Relations with States said that the wish by Pope Francis to visit South Sudan had received “great support”.

Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher who held meetings with South Sudanese political and religious leaders as well as collaborators of the Archbishop of Canterbury from 21 December 2021 reportedly said that Pope Francis has wished to visit South Sudan on multiple occasions and notified those involved in organizing such a visit.

Bishop Christian Carlassare during Thanksgiving Mass on 26 March 2022 following his Episcopal Ordination. Credit:  Fr. Wanyonyi Eric Simiyu, S.J. (Rumbek)

In February, Archbishop Justin Welby confirmed the joint visit to South Sudan “in the next few months.”

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“God willing, sometime in the next few months, perhaps a year, we will go and see them in Juba, not in Rome, and see what progress can be made,” Archbishop Welby was quoted as saying in the February 7 report.

On March 14, Pope Francis met Bishop Carlassare in the Vatican. In a message to ACI Africa hours after the private meeting with the Holy Father, the Bishop said the Pontiff had encouraged him to take up his Episcopal Ministry with fortitude and that he looked forward to visiting South Sudan.

“The Pope said, ‘DO NOT FEAR’ and gave his blessing,” he told ACI Africa March 14, adding that during the March 14 private meeting, Pope Francis “also showed his closeness to the people of South Sudan and said he looks forward to the visit of July.”

On March 23, members of Sudan Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SCBC) that bring together Catholic Bishops in Sudan and South Sudan unveiled the logo and motto of the planned Papal visit. The motto for the July 5-7 first-ever Papal visit to South Sudan comes from John 17.