Pope Francis will not visit war-torn South Sudan in 2017, the Vatican confirmed Tuesday, citing security and logistical barriers to a proposed trip by the pontiff to one of the world’s most fragile countries.
Vatican spokesman Greg Burke said the trip, which would have seen Francis travel with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, was still being considered but “not for this year,” the Catholic Herald reported.
Christian leaders from Catholic, Anglican and Presbyterian churches in South Sudan visited the pope at the Vatican in October 2016, urging him to visit their country. In February, the pope said he hoped to visit the country.
But the pope’s aspirations have been dashed by the ongoing conflict and ethnic tensions in the world’s youngest country. South Sudan only came into existence following a 2011 independence referendum, which saw it split from northern neighbor Sudan. But two years later, the country was plunged into civil war in December 2013. Despite the warring factions signing a peace agreement in 2015, the conflict has continued unabated, killing thousands and displacing more than 3 million South Sudanese. It has also led to famine in parts of the country, which has left 100,000 people on the brink of starvation.
The violence has an ethnic dimension, pitting supporters of President Salva Kiir—who hails from the majority Dinka ethnic group—against backers of former vice-president Riek Machar, a Nuer. The United Nations has said that government soldiers may be guilty of war crimes, while both sides have allegedly been involved in horrific abuses, including burning civilians alive and forced cannibalism.
The post Pope Francis Has Reluctantly Pulled Out Of A Trip To South Sudan appeared first on Woman of Substance.
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