{"id":534,"date":"2021-01-06T23:02:26","date_gmt":"2021-01-06T23:02:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.com\/south-sudan\/all-news\/pope-urges-south-sudanese-leaders-to-renew-peace-process-in-christmas-message"},"modified":"2021-01-06T23:11:35","modified_gmt":"2021-01-06T23:11:35","slug":"pope-urges-south-sudanese-leaders-to-renew-peace-process-in-christmas-message","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/pope-urges-south-sudanese-leaders-to-renew-peace-process-in-christmas-message","title":{"rendered":"Pope urges South Sudanese leaders to renew peace process in Christmas message"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – South-Sudan<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>Pope Francis signs an ecumenical Christmas message to the political leaders of South Sudan, and urges them to make greater strides along the path of peace and service to the nation.\u00a0Pope Francis has sent Christmas greetings to the political leaders of South Sudan once again this year.<\/p>\n

As with last year\u2019s message, the Pope was joined by Anglican Archbishop Justin Welby and the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, the Reverend Martin Fair, in signing the Christmas message.<\/p>\n

Servants of all<\/strong>
\nThe three begin their greetings with a reminder of the humble earthly beginnings of the Son of God.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this Christmas season, we remember that our Lord Jesus Christ came into the world among the least\u2014in a dusty stable with animals,\u201d they write. \u201cLater, he called those who wish to be great in His kingdom to be the servant of all.\u201d<\/p>\n

At their historic meeting in the Vatican in April 2019, Pope Francis offered South Sudan\u2019s leaders a concrete example of humble service, when he knelt to kiss their feet.<\/p>\n

Plea to speed up peace process<\/strong>
\nReferencing that encounter in their message, the Pope with the other Christian leaders urged the African nation\u2019s politicians to remember their commitments \u201cto bring your country to a smooth implementation of the Peace Agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n

They also recalled their pledge to \u201cvisit South Sudan in due course, as things return to normalcy.\u201d\u00a0\u201cWe have been glad to see the small progress you have made, but know it is not enough for your people to feel the full effect of peace,\u201d they caution.<\/p>\n

Greater trust, generosity<\/strong>
\nPope Francis, Archbishop Welby, and Reverend Fair repeated their desire to visit the country in order \u201cto bear witness to a changed nation, governed by leaders who\u2026 \u2018hold hands, united\u2026 as simple citizens\u2019 to \u2018become Fathers (and Mothers) of the Nation.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

They concluded their Christmas greetings praying that South Sudan\u2019s political leaders might \u201cknow greater trust among yourselves and a greater generosity of service to your people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe pray you know the peace that surpasses understanding in your own hearts and in the heart of your great nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Long-running conflict<\/strong>
\nSouth Sudan fell into civil war not long after it gained independence from Sudan, which came in July 2011.\u00a0The conflict raged from 2013 until September 2018, and pitted the forces of President Salva Kiir\u2014an ethnic Dinka\u2014against those of his Vice President, Riek Machar\u2014an ethnic Nuer.<\/p>\n

Over 400,000 people died in the civil war, another 250,000 fled their homes, and around half of the population of 11 million were left in dire poverty.\u00a0In September 2018, the peace process was restarted with the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS).<\/p>\n

However, the situation remains complicated. The UN\u2019s head of mission, David Shearer, recently reported to the UN Security Council that the peace accord is not being implemented as it should. He said violence still afflicts large portions of the nation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Sudan.\u00a0Pope Francis signs an ecumenical Christmas message to the political leaders of South Sudan, and urges them to make greater strides along the path of peace and service to the nation.\u00a0Pope Francis has sent Christmas greetings to the political leaders of South Sudan once again this year. As with last year\u2019s message, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":533,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,12],"tags":[234,265,237,267,236,253,233,266],"class_list":["post-534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-south-sudan","tag-news","tag-pope-francis","tag-south-sudan-2","tag-south-sudan-news-now","tag-south-sudan","tag-vetican"],"yoast_head":"\nPope urges South Sudanese leaders to renew peace process in Christmas message - South Sudan<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/pope-urges-south-sudanese-leaders-to-renew-peace-process-in-christmas-message\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pope urges South Sudanese leaders to renew peace process in Christmas message\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/pope-urges-south-sudanese-leaders-to-renew-peace-process-in-christmas-message\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Sudan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-01-06T23:02:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-01-06T23:11:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/sites\/32\/2021\/01\/img.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"405\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/pope-urges-south-sudanese-leaders-to-renew-peace-process-in-christmas-message#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/pope-urges-south-sudanese-leaders-to-renew-peace-process-in-christmas-message\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Pope urges South Sudanese leaders to renew peace process in Christmas message\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-01-06T23:02:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-01-06T23:11:35+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/pope-urges-south-sudanese-leaders-to-renew-peace-process-in-christmas-message\"},\"wordCount\":507,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/pope-urges-south-sudanese-leaders-to-renew-peace-process-in-christmas-message#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/sites\/32\/2021\/01\/img.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-South-Sudan\",\"news\",\"Pope Francis\",\"South Sudan\",\"South Sudan News now\",\"South-Sudan\",\"Vetican\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/pope-urges-south-sudanese-leaders-to-renew-peace-process-in-christmas-message#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/pope-urges-south-sudanese-leaders-to-renew-peace-process-in-christmas-message\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/pope-urges-south-sudanese-leaders-to-renew-peace-process-in-christmas-message\",\"name\":\"Pope urges South Sudanese leaders to renew peace process in Christmas message - 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