| Pope Francis is in contact with the head of the Anglican Communion and the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in view of realizing their postponed ecumenical trip to South Sudan.
In a conversation with reporters on the flight from Rome to Kazakhstan on September 13, the Holy Father said he recently had a zoom meeting with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, Iain Greenshields, the immediate successor of Jim Wallace, about the African trip. “I spoke the other day with Archbishop Welby [Archbishop of Canterbury and symbolic head of the Anglican Communion ed.] and we saw February 2023 as a possibility for going to South Sudan,” Pope Francis said. He added in reference to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), “And if I go to South Sudan, I will also go to Congo.” “We are trying. All three of us have to go together: the head of the Church of Scotland, Archbishop Welby, and myself. We had a meeting via Zoom the other day about this,” the Holy Father said. On June 10, Matteo Bruni, the Holy See Press Office Director, announced the postponement “with regret” of the Holy Father’s third trip to Africa. “At the request of his doctors, and in order not to jeopardize the results of the therapy that he is undergoing for his knee, the Holy Father has been forced to postpone, with regret, his Apostolic Journey to the Democratic Republic of Congo and to South Sudan, planned for 2 to 7 July, to a later date to be determined,” Mr. Bruni stated. Pope Francis has been suffering from a torn ligament in his right knee, limiting his ability to walk. On May 19, he used a wheelchair during a public meeting, the first time he had done so publicly since leaving the hospital after colon surgery in July 2021. In the program the Holy See published on May 28, Pope Francis’ 37th Apostolic Visit abroad was to begin in the capital city of DRC, Kinshasa on July 2, and conclude on July 7 in South Sudan’s capital city, Juba. On June 12, Pope Francis said he was praying to reschedule the Apostolic trip to DRC and the ecumenical visit to South Sudan “as soon as possible”. Credits to: ACIAFRICA |
Date Published:20 September 2022 Author:Alice, Officer Article Tags: Latest news, South Sudan, Solidarity, Pope Francis, Papal Visit in South Sudan |
