Juba, 03 June, 2022 / 3:05 pm (ACI Africa).
The scheduled ecumenical visit of Pope Francis, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and the Moderator of the Church of Scotland, Jim Wallace, to South Sudan will have an impact of politicians in the East-Central African nation to work toward lasting peace, a lay Catholic has said.
In an interview with ACI Africa, Edmond Yakani who is at the helm of the Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO) in South Sudan that spearheaded the campaign dubbed “remember Pope Francis' Kiss for Peace” said that the people of God in the country hope the visit will help realize positive change.
“Citizens are expecting the coming of the Holy Father as an end to violence because it will help our political leaders in making peace and stability realized,” Mr. Yakani said during the Thursday, June 2 interview.
He recalled the 11 April 2019 dramatic gesture when Pope Francis knelt and kissed the feet of President Salva Kiir and opposition leader Dr. Riek Machar among others, saying, the ecumenical visit “is in line with the call of the Pope (when he kissed) the feet of our leaders.”
The dramatic gesture was after a spiritual retreat that brought together the South Sudanese President, the opposition leader, Dr. Machar, and the widow of South Sudanese leader John Garang, Rebecca Nyandeng De Mabior, among other political and religious leaders from South Sudan.