Pope’s visit synonymous to resuscitation of hope

The Vatican representative to South Sudan Monsignor Ionut Paul Strejac on Thursday announced that Pope Francis will be travelling to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and South Sudan in July.

Pope Francis will visit Kinshasa and Goma in DRC from 2 to 5 July, before travelling to Juba, in South Sudan, from 5 to 7 July 2022

In 2017, Pope Francis had voiced his desire to visit South Sudan for an ecumenical visit alongside Anglican Archbishop Justin Welby. The Pope had hoped to travel to the war-torn country to promote peace, after making a similar effort during his 2015 visit to the Central African Republic.

However, his visit did not happen due to what the Vatican called a security concern

The idea for Pope Francis to visit South Sudan was the fruit of a meeting the Pope had with ecumenical leaders from South Sudan when the late Archbishop Paulino Luduku Loro of Juba travlled to Rome together with Rev. Daniel Deng Bul Yak, the former Archbishop of the Province of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan and Sudan, and Rev. Peter Gai Lual Marrow, moderator of the Presbyterian Church of South Sudan.

The three of them met with Pope Francis on October 27, 2016, to discuss the desperate situation of the country Pope Francis. During the visit, they invited the Pope for a formal visit.

With the Holy Father’s visit now confirmed, Pope Francis will be the first Pope to travel to South Sudan. This is good news to every South Sudanese because they have been waiting for quite a long to receive the Holy Father in their motherland. The two-day visit of Pope Francis to the country means a lot to the citizens it is more of a blessing to many of them, especially those who have been waiting for the visit. Many countries have been yarning to witness the Papal visit to their countries but they could not get the chance.

This would also give courage to those who have been directly or indirectly affected by the conflict in the country. Many people among us have completely lost hope if God does always listen to their prayers due to persistent suffering. This Pope’s visit would give them hope to believe there are many people outside there who still care for them.

It is high time for the country’s leaders especially the government to start preparing for the Pope’s visit by improving on the infrastructure within the capital, Juba where the Holy Father is expected to spend his two days visit. The nature of our facilities including the roads needs to be improved.

There are a lot of potholes with the city that needs to be rehabilitated, very often the authorities only exert effort in beautifying areas around the airport and minister road neglecting other parts of the city. This time the Juba City Council should start early preparation. We don’t need to see men and women in reflector jackets struggling to clean the city on the last date.