Pope highlights plight of women as he continues South Sudan visit

Pope Francis delivers a speech in Juba, South Sudan (Gregorio Borgia/AP)

Pope Francis has sought to console the long-suffering people of South Sudan as he opened his first full day in a country beset by conflict, poverty and humanitarian crises.

After arriving in the world’s newest country on the first-ever papal visit on Friday, Francis was spending Saturday ministering first to church personnel and then to South Sudanese people who have been forced by fighting, flooding and other crises to leave their homes.