Pope Francis has joined the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in a video message to the people of South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, on the date they had planned to make an ecumenical pilgrimage to the region.
In his message sent on Saturday, 2 July, the Pope told the people of the two countries that “words at this time are not enough to convey the closeness I would like to express to you and the affection I feel to you”.
He added: “The Lord knows my regret at being forced to postpone this much-desired and long-awaited visit.” He canceled the visit in early June due to pain in his knee which threatened his mobility.
“Let us not lose faith,” he continued in his message, “but rather cherish the hope of meeting as soon as possible.” He presided at a Mass for the Congolese community in Rome on Sunday 3 July, when he had originally been scheduled to celebrate Mass at Ndolo airport in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, celebrated Mass at the airport in his place, after travelling to the region on Friday for a week-long visit on behalf of the Pope.
On the same day the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, released his own video message in which he prayed for the Pope’s recovery and praised the “great vibrancy and powerful resilience” of the South Sudanese. He recalled his last visit to the country in 2014.
The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, Iain Greenshields, also released a video regretting the postponement of the visit and looking forward “to the time when we will be able to come and share in a joint pilgrimage of peace”.
“We hope that we’ll be able to come and in some way serve and help you,” he said.
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