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In his Christmas message, Pope Francis sends a message of sympathy for the peoples of South Sudan and Lebanon, and speaks of his intention to visit these two countries “as soon as possible.”
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Pope Francis holding the Lebanese flag last September (archive)
In his Christmas messages, Pope Francis promised today, Thursday, to visit Lebanon and South Sudan as soon as possible.
The Pope often mentions countries in his message on Christmas Day, and this year he specialized these two countries with messages on Christmas Eve, due to the difficulties they faced recently.
Referring to Lebanon, the Pope said: “I was deeply disturbed by the suffering and pain that I saw weaken the resilience and resourcefulness of the land of cedars.”
Lebanon is facing a serious economic crisis, and the repercussions of the explosion in the port of Beirut on August 4, in which 200 people died.
The Pope expressed “love for the dear Lebanese people, whom I hope to visit as soon as possible.” He added that he hoped Lebanon “could stay away from regional conflicts and tensions.”
The Pope will visit Iraq from March 5-8.
In a separate letter, drafted in association with Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, spiritual leader of the Anglican community around the world and director of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland Martin Faire, the three pledged to undertake a previously delayed journey. to a predominantly Christian South Sudan “when things get back to normal.” “.
All three sent their message to the leaders of southern Sudan, who formed a government of national unity in February after years of civil war ravaged the poor country.
A United Nations report released this month said implementation of various aspects of the peace agreement had stalled in southern Sudan, caused by floods that displaced hundreds of thousands of people last September.
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