Pope makes final bid for peace and forgiveness in South Sudan

Pope Francis tours the audience in his vehicle after arriving for a Holy Mass at the John Garang Mausoleum in Juba, South Sudan Sunday, Feb. 5, 2023. Pope Francis is in South Sudan on the final day of a six-day trip that started in Congo, hoping to bring comfort and encouragement to two countries that have been riven by poverty, conflicts and what he calls a “colonialist mentality” that has exploited Africa for centuries. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Pope Francis has made a final appeal for peace in South Sudan as he celebrated Mass before tens of thousands of people to end an unusual mission by Christian religious leaders to nudge forward the country’s recovery from civil war.

On the last day of his African pilgrimage, Francis begged South Sudanese people to lay down their weapons and forgive one another, presiding over Mass at the country’s monument to independence hero John Garang before an estimated 100,000 people in Juba, including the country’s political leadership.