The message that Pope Francis addressed to the youth of Kinshasa 0:43
(CNN) --
Pope Francis arrived in Juba, South Sudan, on Friday, fulfilling a long-standing desire to visit the war-torn country, which is in the midst of a major humanitarian emergency.
For the first time, the pope undertook the journey together with the leader of the Anglican Communion, Archbishop Justin Welby and the moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, the Reverend Iain Greenshields, on behalf of the three Christian churches that represent the majority of the population in South Sudan.
More than a million faithful attended a mass led by Pope Francis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
"South Sudan, ravaged by years of war, yearns for an end to the constant violence that forces many people to be displaced and live in conditions of great hardship," the pope said before leaving Rome for Africa on Tuesday.
South Sudan is experiencing the third largest refugee crisis in the world, according to the UN Refugee Agency.
Some four million people have fled the country or are internally displaced in South Sudan, more than half of whom are children.
South Sudan gained independence from Muslim-majority Sudan in 2011 after decades of conflict, only to plunge into civil war two years later when fighting broke out between loyalists of President Salva Kir and allies of Vice President Riek Machar. who is of a different ethnicity.
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Pope Francis arrived in Juba, in South Sudan, on February 3, 2023 (Credit: SIMON MAINA/AFP via Getty Images)
In April 2019, the pope held a spiritual retreat at the Vatican for South Sudanese political and religious leaders and, in an unprecedented gesture, knelt and kissed the feet of President Kir and Vice President Machar.
Before arriving in South Sudan, the pope was in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
There, more than a million people attended the Mass officiated by Francis in Kinshasa.
Pope FrancisSouth Sudan
