Pope Francis appoints new Ordinary for Armenian Catholics in Eastern Europe

Juba, South Sudan, Jun 11, 2017 / 06:08 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The news that Pope Francis will not be able to visit South Sudan this year prompted the nation’s bishops to voice reassurances that a future visit is possible, and ask for a renewed commitment to peace.

“Pope Francis is very particularly (concerned) about the welfare of the suffering people in the world, and so is he for South Sudan,” the bishops said June 6, adding that the Pope “continues to remind us of the costs of war, particularly on the powerless and defenseless, and urge us toward the imperative of peace.”

Bishop Barani Eduardo Hiiboro Kussala of Tombura-Yambio, president of the Sudan Catholic Bishops Conference, wrote the statement representing bishops from both Sudan and South Sudan.

He noted the Pope’s great concern about the country and his prayers for South Sudan on several occasions at the Angelus and at the weekly audiences in Vatican City.

Sudan has been the scene of nearly continuous civil war since it gained independence in 1956. Many of the initial problems were caused by corruption in the government, which led to the political, economic, and religious marginalization of the country’s peripheries.

South Sudan became an independent country in 2011, but has been torn by a civil war since December 2013, between the state forces – the Sudan People’s Liberation Army – and opposition forces, as well as sectarian conflict. A peace agreement was eventually signed, but was broken by violence in the summer of 2016.

The bishops voiced “great desire, hope and expectation” that a papal visit will be reconsidered, noting it would be the first papal visit to the new country of South Sudan. St. John Paul II visited Sudan in 1993.

A visit from Pope Francis could have “uplifted the faith” of Christians and other believers and raise expectations of peace. His presence would console the grieving and heal the broken-hearted, they said.

The bishops said the Pope’s decision not to visit in 2017 should be received “in respect and prayer.” They suggested challenges facing the country, including lack of security, were obstacles to a papal visit.

They encouraged the faithful of the two countries to embark “a very serious spiritual self-discernment” that includes peace-building in order to create an atmosphere conducive to a papal visit.

“Be that agent of change needed in South Sudan! Pray a lot more in sincere repentance of heart with the aim of consolidating peace in the country,” the bishops of Sudan and South Sudan said. “It is only such activities which can bring the Holy Father to South Sudan in no distant period.”

The bishops reflected on Pope Francis’ witness in the world.

“The Holy Father has been a leading voice for peace and for dialogue between people of different faiths and nations,” the bishops’ statement continued. “He has also, in both his words and his deeds, called all of us to address the challenges of poverty and inequality in our own country and around the world.”

“He reminds us that in the eyes of God our measure as individuals, and our measure as a society, is not determined by power or wealth or station or celebrity, but by how well we attend to Scripture’s call to lift up the poor and the marginalized, to stand up for justice and against inequality, and to ensure that every human being is able to live in dignity – because we are all made in the image of God,” the bishops said.

In late May, Vatican spokesman Greg Burke confirmed that Pope Francis would not visit South Sudan in 2017. He had hoped to travel there with Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, the highest prelate of the Church of England, to advance peace in the country.

Burke said the trip is still under consideration, but just “not this year.”

In fall 2016 the Pope met with ecumenical leaders from South Sudan. They discussed the situation in the country, stressing the collaboration present among Christians to face its challenges, and the delegation also invited Pope Francis to visit.

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Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Mar 11, 2019 / 11:56 am (CNA).- Pope Francis is offering prayers for the 157 people killed in an Ethiopian Airlines plane crash Sunday, which include a priest, a religious sister, and four staff members with Catholic Relief Servi… […]

Aleppo, Syria, Apr 6, 2017 / 02:53 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The attitude of Christians in Aleppo seems to have improved since Syrian government forces re-took the city, and they believe the prayers of Christians abroad have helped them, one religious sister reports.

Sister Maria Sponsa Iusti Ioseph, a native of Peru, told CNA that the Christians in Aleppo have received with love the words of Pope Francis.

When government forces took the city from rebels in December, the sisters told the faithful “that the Holy Father is praying for us and a lot of people in the world are too.”

“They really appreciate that and they feel protected by the prayers of Christians,” Sister Maria Sponsa said. “At the same time they feel very happy because they know that their suffering is not in vain, but it helps the people in the West. If they know that there are conversions because of that offering, that gives them a lot of strength to go on.”

The sister is a religious of the Institute of the Incarnate Word who lives in the city of Aleppo, which was taken from rebels in December 2016. She recounted how Christians have lived in the last four months.

The Christians in Aleppo attend Mass frequently. Before Mass, they pray a Rosary for peace.

“Once a month a Eucharist is celebrated for the deceased in the Cathedral of the Child Jesus,” Sister Maria Sponsa said. “Now thanks be to God, the Christian cemetery has been recovered—it was controlled by the rebels. Christians can visit their dead again and bring over bodies interred elsewhere for burial there.”

Sister María Sponsa said that the people’s attitude has improved since the government’s capture of the city. This change was noticeable during Christmas.

“We saw that people were walking happily down the street. Their faces were completely changed,” she said. “Even though they are usually very cheerful, you could notice another kind of joy. It was like a respite.”

“Some of the window lights were lit up and the churches had also decorated their domes with lights. They even set up a Christmas tree in the street.”

During previous Christmases since the civil war began, “there were no lights in the windows, nor were there churches decorated with lights, nor was there any Christmas atmosphere.”

“When we visited the people we would ask them if they had set up a manger scene, but they didn’t want to have one because it brought back memories for them,” Sister Maria Sponsa reported. “Before the war they lived so happily, they shared the holidays with their families. And so it was depressing for them to put out those things that represented those memories in the midst of a difficult situation.”

However, for the 2016 holidays some people put out their decorations again.

The religious sister also stressed that the suffering caused by shortages in the city, such as water, food and shelter, has resulted in Christian and Muslim neighbors working together to survive.

“Today we all share the same lot. Everyone is suffering because of this situation. They help each other out. The people of Aleppo are very respectful and very open, thanks be to God,” she said. “That makes it easier for good relationships among everyone.”

Sister María Sponsa said that the home of the Incarnate Word sisters in Aleppo is open to anyone who wants to visit them.

“People like to come to the house. And so we have little get-togethers, have a little coffee,” she said. “We even have coffee with the people after Sunday Mass. They enjoy it. They talk with us and get a little relief from the situation they’re going through.”

For Sister Maria Sponsa, Syrians “express affection very differently from Latinos.”

“It seems to me they’re much warmer,” she said. “For example after five minutes they say ‘I miss you.’ When they know you well they call you and ask how you’re doing.”

“There, you hardly come into a house and they don’t ask you if you’re going to have coffee. They say, ‘with or without sugar?’  They talk with you for five minutes and then they give you the coffee,” she commented.

The Franciscans and the Salesians usually prepare the Christian children, youths and adults to receive the sacraments for the first time.

The religious  sister said that every Thursday the sisters get together with the young college students they welcome into their home.

“We talk, we give them a little doctrine, sometimes we watch movies and play board games,” she said. “For them it’s a time of fun and distraction. They’re always waiting for it to be Thursday so we can get together.”

They also organize a co-ed gathering once a month, since the men live with the priests of the same institute.

“When we can take a little walk, we go to the park, although it’s not that safe. We watch movies with them or we invite them.”

The Syrian civil war began in March 2011 with demonstrations against the nation’s president, Bashar al-Assad. The war has claimed the lives of more than 320,000 people, and forced 4.8 million to become refugees. Another 8 million Syrians are believed to have been internally displaced by the violence.

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