ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT FROM AFRICA (SE): “The whole world is at war and self-destruction, we must stop in time!” Vatican News reported Pope Francis as telling reporters as he returned to Rome from South Sudan on February 5,
The pope was joined at the airborne press conference by Anglican Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury, and the Reverend Iain Greenshields, moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, together with whom he visited South Sudan from February 3-5. The pope had visited Congo from January 31 to February 3 before joining the other Church leaders.
Pope Francis said that “the biggest plague” afflicting the world today is the weapons trade CNS reported, he noted that tribalism with its ancient rivalries is a problem “but it is also true that the violence is provoked” by the ready supply of weapons and that making it easier for people to kill each other just to make money “is diabolical—I have no other word for it.”
The three leaders made the ecumenical visit to South Sudan to press the government to implement peace agreements, to console victims of the conflict and to encourage the country’s Christians to do their part.
“I’ve ended this visit with a deep sense of encouragement, not so much that there was a breakthrough, but there was a sense, to use a past phrase from the pope of heart speaking to heart … what we now need is a serious change of heart from the leadership … There has to be an end to corruption and gun smuggling and the amassing of huge quantities of weapons … We need serious progress by the end of 2023,” Archbishop Welby said, according to Vatican News.
The whole world is at war, and in self-destruction. We have to think seriously: it is in self-destruction. We must stop in time, because one bomb [leads to] a bigger one and a bigger one, and in the escalation you don’t know where you will end up. We need to have a cool head
Pope Francis
Reverend Greenshields noting that it was his first visit to South Sudan, said, “I think the situation now clearly is this: that actions speak louder than words. We were invited by the government and the Churches to go there as a friend would invite you to come into their room, into their house… we were asked to help in whatever way we could to make a difference in that situation… That’s been done. Now it’s up to those who can make a difference to start the process urgently.”
Earlier that morning, while celebrating Mass at John Garang Mausoleum in South Sudan’s capital of Juba, Pope Francis told the tens of thousands in attendance that the only way the country will get out of the darkness of violence is with the light of their faith and their commitment to peace, CNS reported.
“In the name of Jesus and of his beatitudes, let us lay down the weapons of hatred and revenge, in order to take up those of prayer and charity,” the pope said.
Urging them to be salt of the earth and light to the world, the pope said the path toward peace requires that people “overcome the dislikes and aversions that over time have become chronic and risk pitting tribes and ethnic groups against one another.”
It is time “to apply the salt of forgiveness to our wounds; salt burns but it also heals. Even if our hearts bleed for the wrongs we have suffered, let us refuse, once and for all, to repay evil with evil, and we will grow healthy within. Let us accept one another and love one another with sincerity and generosity, as God loves us,” the pope said, adding, “Let us cherish the good that we are, and not allow ourselves to be corrupted by evil!”
I think the situation now clearly is this: that actions speak louder than words. We were invited by the government and the Churches to go there as a friend would invite you to come into their room, into their house… we were asked to help in whatever way we could to make a difference in that situation… That’s been done. Now it’s up to those who can make a difference to start the process urgently
Reverend Greenshields
Aboard the papal flight, Archbishop Welby said: “My prayer at the end of this visit is not just lots of activism, but also that the Holy Spirit of God brings a new spirit of reconciliation and healing to the people of South Sudan.”
Pope Francis also was asked if his job had become more difficult since the death on 31 December 2022 of Pope Benedict XVI and the publication of various books and articles portraying the late pope as critical of Pope Francis.
“I was able to talk about everything with Pope Benedict and change [my] opinions,” the pope said, stressing, “He was always at my side, supportive, and if I had some difficulty, I would tell him, and we would talk.”
As an example, Pope Francis recounted that when he had remarked in an interview that for the Catholic Church marriage could be only between a man and a woman, but the Church could accept civil union legislation providing legal protections to gay couples, a theologian went to “Pope Benedict and denounced me.”
[Pope Benedict] simply called “four cardinals who were first-class theologians” and asked for their opinions, which they gave, the pope said. “The story ended there.”I’ve ended this visit with a deep sense of encouragement, not so much that there was a breakthrough, but there was a sense, to use a past phrase from the pope of heart speaking to heart … what we now need is a serious change of heart from the leadership … There has to be an end to corruption and gun smuggling and the amassing of huge quantities of weapons … We need serious progress by the end of 2023
Archbishop Welby
Stories that “Benedict was embittered by this or that decision” of Pope Francis have no foundation, he said. “I think the death of Benedict has been instrumentalised by people who want ‘to bring water to their own mill,’” meaning they want to reinforce their own position even if it harms another.
“People who would use a person who was so good, so godly” have no ethics, the pope said. They are not defending Pope Benedict but their own ideologies, Pope Francis said.
Asked if the three Christian leaders would make a joint appeal for peace in Ukraine, Vatican News reported the pope as saying he was open to meeting both Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, and Vladimir Putin, the president Russia.
Archbishop Welby added, “An end to this war is within the hands of President Putin. He could end it with withdrawal and ceasefire and then negotiations about long-term settlement… It is a terrifying and a terrible war.”
Pope Francis said, “Today we are at this point, but it is not the only war. I would like to do justice [to what’s happening around the world]: For twelve to 13 years Syria has been at war, for more than 10 years Yemen has been at war; think of Myanmar, of the poor Rohingya people who travel around the world because they have been driven out of their homeland. Everywhere … how many hotbeds of war there are!”
The pope lamented, “The whole world is at war, and in self-destruction. We have to think seriously: it is in self-destruction. We must stop in time, because one bomb [leads to] a bigger one and a bigger one, and in the escalation you don’t know where you will end up. We need to have a cool head.”
Asked about his health and future trips, CNS reported that the pope said his knee is still painful, but since “weeds never die,” he hopes to continue travelling. He plans to go to Lisbon in early August for World Youth Day and then to Marseille, France, on September 23 for a meeting about the Church and society on the shores of the Mediterranean, a theme that obviously includes migration.
“And there is a possibility that from Marseille we will fly to Mongolia,” the pope said. For 2024, he added, a trip to India is being studied.
Pope Francis also was asked about telling the Associated Press in January that he believed it was an injustice to criminalise homosexuality, he pointed out that he had discussed homosexuality with reporters on several occasions. The first time, he said, was flying back from Brazil in 2013, “when I said that if a person with a homosexual tendency is a believer and is seeking God, who am I to judge him?”
Vatican News reported the pope as saying, “The criminalization of homosexuality is an issue that must not be allowed to pass by. It is estimated that, more or less, 50 countries, in one way or another, promote this kind of criminalization … and some of these … even foresee the death penalty.
He stressed, “This is not right, people with homosexual tendencies are children of God, God loves them, God accompanies them … to criminalize people with homosexual tendencies is an injustice … I am talking about people. And I believe the Catechism of the Catholic Church says they should not be marginalised. This point, I believe, is clear.”
Both Archbishop Welby and Greenshields said they would be “delighted” to join the pope on another ecumenical pilgrimage.
