NAIROBI (OSV News): “We know what it means to live in a continual state of insecurity and fear. Violence can erupt so easily and for no apparent reason,” Pietro Cardinal Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state said in his homily in Rumbek, South Sudan, on August 17, as he ended his four day visit to the world’s youngest nation.
“Whereas we long to sit untroubled in the shade of the vine and fig tree, as the prophet says, to enjoy peace and security in our country,”—it is not always easy, Cardinal Parolin. “It requires the commitment of everyone.”
He said, “People place more trust in their guns than in the power of forgiveness!”
Cardinal Parolin ended his homily in Rumbek with exactly the same words that Pope Francis said on February 3 during his apostolic trip to the country, urging the South Sudanese to “move from words to deeds.”
The cardinal said, “It is time to turn the page: it is the time for commitment to an urgent and much-needed transformation.”
People place more trust in their guns than in the power of forgiveness!
Cardinal Parolin
The cardinal arrived in Juba, the country’s capital, on August 14, carrying the pope’s message to the people and authorities of Sudan.
Pope Francis’ visit to South Sudan followed “extensive efforts on the part of the Church to seek peace among the rival factions,” Vatican News reported. The cardinal’s visit is seen as a continuation of those efforts.
On August 15, Cardinal Parolin travelled to the northern city of Malakal, where he celebrated Mass for the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and met with United Nations peacekeepers.
Only in the week preceding the cardinal’s visit, a clash at a UN Protection of Civilians Site run by UNMISS, the UN’s peacekeeping mission in South Sudan, killed at least 13 people and injured over 20 others.
Over 37,000 internally-displaced persons resided in the Malakal camp as of December 2022, Vatican News said.
The people here in South Sudan have been suffering and continue to suffer…Like today it rains since the morning up to now and there are people who have nothing to cover themselves with
Bishop Majwok
The cardinal also welcomed refugees escaping the ongoing conflict in Sudan on August 16 and accompanied a boat full of people on the final stretch of their journey to the reception centre. At least 42,000 people fleeing the war between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, have arrived in Malakal.
Bishop Stephen Nyodho Ador Majwok of Malakal, said Cardinal Parolin’s visit inspired hope among the people as it demonstrated the love, closeness and solidarity of the Catholic Church.
“The people here in South Sudan have been suffering and continue to suffer,” Bishop Majwok said, according to South Sudanese Eye Radio. “Like today it rains since the morning up to now and there are people who have nothing to cover themselves with.”
The bishop appealled to the international community, partners and individuals to help the displaced persons in the region. “Children and the elderly people … need a lot of assistance, we went yesterday with the cardinal to see their situation and he saw for himself,” Bishop Majwok said of the cardinal’s visit to his diocese.
Cardinal Parolin confirmed that his visit seeks to convey “the communion and solidarity of the universal Church” and to remind South Sudanese they are not alone, since “if one member suffers, he or she has a greater right than the others to attention, care, love,” he said on August 15. “I would like you to feel the attention, care and love of the whole Church this morning!”
The visit encourages us to turn a new page from the past and journey in the process of synodality—the communion of being together and collaborating
Bishop Christian Carlassare
This was the cardinal’s third visit to the country. The first was in the summer of 2022, after Pope Francis’ apostolic trip was rescheduled to reassure the people that the visit would still happen. When finally the ‘pilgrimage of peace’ occurred from February 3 to 5, the cardinal was accompanying the Holy Father
“As I visit South Sudan for the third time, I can tell you that I see your enthusiasm and joyful faith. I recognise your great potential, and I assure you of my prayers,” Cardinal Parolin said in Rumbek.
Bishop Christian Carlassare of Rumbek said the top Vatican diplomat had come to the country to see how the peace process was progressing and to assess the humanitarian crisis that has been unfolding with the civil war in Sudan and the arrival of refugees as well as those returning from having previously sought refuge in the neighbour to the north.
“He wanted to see how the Church could respond to the humanitarian crisis,” Bishop Carlassare said. “This visit is a blessing. It is really a grace to receive him. It shows us the church is united and it gathers people from any nation and it’s universal.”
“The visit encourages us to turn a new page from the past and journey in the process of synodality—the communion of being together and collaborating,” he added.
As he departed Rumbek, the cardinal had left the people with three words: “dialogue,” “commitment” that words become actions and “togetherness,” Bishop Carlassare said.
