In Juba's John Garang Mausoleum, Pope Francis addressed the faithful gathered for an ecumenical prayer service in South Sudan and urges all those present to pray, work, and journey.

   Concluding his second day in South Sudan, Pope Francis addressed the faithful gathered for an ecumenical prayer. He noted that from the South Sudanese land, "wracked by violence", "many prayers have now been raised to heaven".

Pope Francis asked all those present to reflect on three verbs: 

      The first is to pray. Pope Francis noted that prayer gives us the strength to go forward, to overcome our fears, to glimpse, even in the darkness, the salvation that God is even now preparing.  He added that "prayer brings down God’s salvation upon the people", and that the prayer of intercession is the type of prayer that we, as shepherds of God’s holy people, are especially called to practice. 

The Holy Father urged all those present to support each other in this effort.

     Pope Francis noted that the peace of God is not only a truce amid conflicts, "but a fraternal fellowship that comes from uniting and not absorbing; from pardoning and not overpowering; from reconciling and not imposing".

     Let us work tirelessly, urged the Pope "for the peace that the Spirit of Jesus and the Father urges us to build: a peace that integrates diversity and promotes unity in plurality".

"What Jesus teaches us is clear," added the Pope, "we are to love everyone since everyone is loved as a child of our common Father in heaven".  

The Pope noted that in this country, "Christian communities have been deeply committed to promoting processes of reconciliation", before expressing his gratitude for this "radiant testimony of faith born of the realization, expressed not only in words but also in deeds that prior to any historical divisions, there remains one unchanging fact, namely, that we are Christians". 

Speaking of ecumenism in South Sudan, Pope Francis described this reality as "a precious treasure" and an act of praise for the name of Jesus.