Clergy, Religious in South Sudan Pledge to Espouse Pope Francis’ Pilgrimage Exhortations

Speaking to ACI Africa after the encounter with Pope Francis at the Cathedral of Juba Archdiocese, Fr. Luka Dor said, “The message of the Pope focused on peace, love, forgiveness, and reconciliation.”

Credit: ACI africa

“When I go back to my Diocese Rumbek, I will take the example that he gave us, the example of Moses to live among my people with love, kindness, compassion and also to be a leader who can give them a good example of peace, forgiveness, and reconciliation,” Fr. Dor said. 

The South Sudanese Catholic Priest added, “If my brother or sister has something (against) me, and he comes to me or I go to him or her, to say what you have done is wrong and we understand each other, we reconcile and we continue with the mission of God.”

“I will go with his blessings that we have received and we will go back with that joy and love, full of compassion and forgiveness back to our brothers and sisters,” Fr. Dor emphasized, calling on his compatriots to take the message of peace from the Holy Father.

“Let us love one another, let us be reconciled and let us be one people in South Sudan and no division,” the Rector of St. Josephine Bakhita Mapuordit Minor Seminary of Rumbek Diocese told ACI Africa during the February 4 interview. 

For Sr. Elizabeth Mukami, “the emphasis of the Holy Father for us to take Christ as a center of everything we do” was memorable.

Sr. Elizabeth Mukami. Credit: ACI Africa

The member of the Pious Society of the Daughters of St. Paul (FSP) said that in his February 4 address, Pope Francis reminded Consecrated persons in South Sudan to place God before everything, including themselves. 

“He has reminded us that we are not and never to be, the patron. We are to be the shepherds of the flock and not to be the center,” Sr. Mukami told ACI Africa on February 4. 

In his call to intercede for the people of God in South Sudan, the Pontiff  meant “not only to pray for people but also to work with the people,” she said, adding that the Holy Father meant “to work with the people, to touch the sufferings of the people.”

Credit: ACI Africa

“He said for us Sisters and as a church, the Clergymen, the Religious, who are involved in the teaching and preaching and the health ministries … we need to feel the sufferings of the people in that our involvement,” the Kenyan-born FSP member said. 

She continued, “We are in the powerful hands of Jesus. So, in all that we go through, we have to step back and allow Jesus to hold us and take us where he wants us to be to serve the people in this reality or in the situation where we are in.”

On her part, Sr. Caroline Njeru, who described the February 4 encounter with the Holy Father at St. Theresa’s Cathedral as “great” said she retained a message of hope, intercession, and meekness.

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Sr. Caroline Njeru. Credit: ACI Africa

“We come as ministers of God and we have to pray to be in contact with God in order to be able to understand ourselves and bring the message of Christ, not our own message, to these suffering people,” the Kenyan-born FSP member told ACI Africa.

Sr. Njeru underscored the need to be “mediators not only in prayers but also in action”, saying that the Clergy and Consecrated persons the Holy Father had addressed “have to work with the people suffering and be their consoler.”

Br. Leonard Masereka, a member of the Congregation of Saint Martin de Porres said the Holy Father’s message to Bishops, Priests, women and men Religious and Seminarians in South Sudan made him realize that he has been called to lead others to know God. 

Br. Leonard Masereka. Credit: ACI Africa

“I have realized that I'm also called like Moses to also lead others to know him,” Br. Masereka told ACI Africa on February 4, and added, “I also would like to encourage people.” 

The Ugandan-born religious Brother said he felt challenged, as a Consecrated person, to go to the peripheries and evangelize the people. 

Credit: ACI Africa

“We should also try to be humble like him; as his Holiness humbled himself and flew from Rome to here, South Sudan, we should also humble ourselves and reach out to the people who might be very far. We should also go to them and evangelize them,” said Fr. Masereka.

Sr. Viola Nicola, a member of the Salesian Sisters of Saint John Bosco (FMA) said Pope Francis’ visit to South Sudan “is a sign of blessing from God to our country.”

The South Sudanese national said the Holy Father “is that Moses who has come to our country to bring that blessing to us.”

“I'm expecting that this visit will bring renewal to us first as Christians in our faith and strengthen our communion as a church and also will touch the hearts of our leaders and also extend the  peace process that our government is implementing in our country,” said said Sr. Nicola.

Credit: ACI Africa

The South Sudanese FMA member implored, “May this visit renew us in our faith, strengthen our communion and bring us as the theme of the visit of the Holy Father that may they be one.”

“May this visit unite us as South Sudanese, make us one people, and strengthen our peace process,” she added.

For the Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus (MCCJ) member, Fr. Justin Ngbo, the message of the Holy Father encouraged him to make visible the word of God. 

The native of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) made reference to his mission in South Sudan, saying, “In the Diocese of Rumbek which is still a bit challenging in matters of faith and also in matters of the crisis, the poverty, we continue to pray. This is a word of encouragement to me, to give me the strength. Like Moses lifted the snake for the people to see, I will go and give the word of God to the people.”