The plane carrying Pope Francis landed at Juba International Airport in Juba, South Sudan on Friday, February 3, as the head of the Roman Catholic Church started his three-day visit to promote peace and reconciliation in the world's youngest nation. After bidding farewell to the DR Congo, Pope Francis' flight landed in Juba for his long-awaited ecumenical pilgrimage for peace to South Sudan with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, Iain Greenshields. The Pope's farewell to the DR Congo, marked the end of the first leg of his two-nation, 40th, Apostolic Journey abroad, and his fifth journey to Africa. ALSO READ: DR Congo, Africa shouldn’t be plundered, Pope Francis tells West Pope Francis visited the DR Congo from January 31 to February 3, following in the footsteps of Pope St. John Paul II, who visited there in 1980 and 1985. In his second and final leg of his African pilgrimage, from Friday to Sunday, he is seeking to encourage the young country's stalled peace process and to draw international attention to the continued fighting there. For years, Pope Francis has expressed his strong desire to travel to predominantly-Christian South Sudan, but the unstable situation in the country, along with the pandemic, complicated plans for a visit. In April 2019, the Pope hosted a spiritual retreat in the Vatican for the political leaders and ecclesiastical authorities of South Sudan. At the retreat in the Casa Santa Marta, he knelt at their feet and begged them to work for peace and to be worthy fathers of their nation. In Juba, he will have meetings with various Church and civil groups, including several internally displaced people. Following a Mass for the country's faithful on Sunday morning, Pope Francis will return to Rome.
