Parolin left Juba on Tuesday, Aug. 15, and headed to the Diocese of Malakal, where he had been invited by Bishop Stephen Nyodho to meet refugees from war-torn Sudan.
Thousands of returnees and refugees displaced by the ongoing war between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are being hosted in the Diocese of Malakal, which serves South Sudan’s Upper Nile State. The number of those in dire need of humanitarian assistance continues to rise daily.
Parolin will end his four-day visit to South Sudan on Thursday, Aug. 17, in the Diocese of Rumbek, where he will preside over Mass and meet with Church leaders and more government officials.
In an Aug. 13 interview with ACI Africa ahead of Parolin’s visit, Archbishop Hubertus van Megen, the apostolic nuncio to South Sudan and Kenya, reiterated the message of Pope Francis to South Sudanese leaders, saying: “The message of the Holy Father remains the same. It is the message of reconciliation as indicated in the motto for his visit that ‘I pray that all may be one.’”
The nuncio recalled that the Holy Father’s visit to South Sudan in February brought people of diverse backgrounds together and that the Holy Father’s intention was that all South Sudanese “truly become one nation of South Sudan.”
“In order to achieve the unity of the South Sudanese, the people need to first reconcile with one another,” he added.