By Philip Pullella and Waakhe Simon Wudu

JUBA (Reuters) – Pope Francis wound up a peace mission to South Sudan on Sunday urging the individuals to make themselves proof against the “venom of hatred” to realize the peace and prosperity which have eluded them by years of bloody ethnic conflicts.

Francis presided at a Mass on the grounds of a mausoleum for South Sudan’s liberation hero John Garang, who died in a helicopter crash in 2005 earlier than the predominantly Christian nation gained independence from Muslim Sudan in 2011.

The 86-year-old pope wove his homily across the themes which have dominated his journey to the world’s latest nation – reconciliation and mutual forgiveness for previous wrongs. The gang sang, drummed and ululated as Francis entered the dusty space.

He begged the gang of about 70,000 individuals to shun the “blind fury of violence”.

“At the moment I want to thanks, as a result of you’re the salt of the earth on this nation. But, when you think about its many wounds, the violence that will increase the venom of hatred, and the injustice that causes distress and poverty, it’s possible you’ll really feel small and powerless,” he mentioned, talking from a big altar platform overlooking the gang within the capital, Juba.

Two years after independence, South Sudan plunged right into a civil warfare that killed 400,000 individuals. Regardless of a 2018 peace deal between the 2 major antagonists, bouts of combating have continued to kill and displace massive numbers of civilians.

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, chief of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and Iain Greenshields, Moderator of the Basic Meeting of the Church of Scotland, attended the Mass.

The three spiritual leaders are on an unprecedented joint “pilgrimage of peace” to a nation that has thus far been unable to quell lethal inter-ethnic battle.

“This nation, so stunning but ravaged by violence, wants the sunshine that every one in every of you has, or higher, the sunshine that every one in every of you is,” mentioned Francis, who was resulting from return to Rome afterward Sunday along with Welby and Greenshields.

His journey to Africa additionally included a go to to Democratic Republic of Congo.

‘TURNING POINT FOR PEACE’

Ferida Modon, 72, who misplaced three of her kids to battle, sat in the back of the sphere to attend the Mass in Juba.

“I would like peace to return to South Sudan. Sure, I consider that his go to will change the state of affairs. We at the moment are uninterested in battle,” she mentioned. “We would like God to take heed to our prayers.”

Jesilen Gaba, 42, a widow with 4 kids, mentioned: “The truth that the three Church buildings united for the sake of South Sudan, that is the turning level for peace. I would like the go to to be a blessing to us. We’ve got been at warfare, we’ve misplaced many individuals.”

Francis made one other attraction for an finish to the tribalism, monetary wrongdoing and political cronyism on the root of lots of the nation’s issues.

He urged the individuals to construct “good human relationships as a means of curbing the corruption of evil, the illness of division, the filth of fraudulent enterprise dealings and the plague of injustice”.

South Sudan has a number of the largest reserves in sub-Saharan Africa however a U.N. report in 2021 mentioned the nation’s leaders had diverted “staggering quantities of cash and different wealth” from public coffers and sources.

The federal government dismissed the report and has denied accusations of widespread corruption.