Pope Francis calls for peace and reconciliation in S. Sudan

November 28, 2015 (KAMPALA) – The head of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis on Saturday reiterated calls for peace and reconciliation in war-torn South Sudan.

A church spokesperson said Pope Francis accepted the brief meeting because South Sudan is “a land in need of peace and reconciliation.”

Francis is the third Pope to visit Uganda. He had earlier visited Kenya and will, on completion of his Ugandan tour, travel to the Central African Republic (CAR).

While in Kampala, Pope Francis called upon the Christians to emulate the work and character of the Uganda martyrs killed between 1885 and 1887.

The fallen martyrs, he stressed, were burned after they declined to forsake their faith and that their attitudes should be enshrined in a Christian’s daily life in homes, work places and the in the farthest corners of the universe.

“The legacy of the martyrs is not only served by occasional remembrance or by being enshrined in a museum as a precious jewel,” the head of the Catholic Church told thousands attending mass at Namugongo Martyr’s shrine in the Ugandan capital.

The Pope, upon reaching the point where the martyrs were killed, knelt down and said a silent prayer. He then signed a visitor’s book in the museum, before he moved out of the martyrs’ shrine on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the Pope on Friday challenged catechists and teachers to be good examples and witnesses to the communities in which they operate.

“The Christian community in Uganda grew strong through the witness of the martyrs,” said the head of the Catholic Church, adding, “Your example should speak to every one of the beauty of prayer, the power of mercy and forgiveness, the joy of sharing in the Eucharist with all our brothers”.

Uganda had previously hosted Pope Paul IV in 1969 and Pope John Paul II in 1993.

(ST)