VATICAN (CNS): Pope Francis has postponed his planned trip July 2 to 7 to Congo and South Sudan. “At the request of his doctors, and in order not to jeopardise the results of the therapy that he is undergoing for his knee, the Holy Father has been forced to postpone, with regret, his apostolic journey to the Democratic Republic of Congo and to South Sudan,” Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press office, said on June 10. The trip would be moved “to a later date to be determined.”
The press office did not mention whether the pope’s planned trip to Canada in late July was still set.
Pope Francis apologised on June 12 to the people of Congo and South Sudan for postponing his.
“Dear friends, with great regret, due to problems with my leg, I have had to postpone my visit to your countries,” the pope said the Angelus prayer with visitors in St. Peter’s Square.
“I truly feel great sorrow for having had to postpone this trip, which means so much to me. I apologize for this,” he said. “Let us pray together that, with the help of God and medical attention, I will be able to be with you as soon as possible. Let us be hopeful!”
Although Pope Francis has cancelled several events since mid-January and has begun using a wheelchair or a cane, the Vatican had continued to insist that he would make the two trips in July. The Vatican press office published a detailed schedule for the Africa trip on May 28 and released a list of the journalists accredited to the papal flight to Africa ion June 8.
The South Sudan portion of the trip had been in the works for years.
Pope Francis was scheduled to fly to South Sudan with Anglican Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury and the Reverend Iain Greenshields, moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, for an ecumenical pilgrimage of peace from July 5 to 7. Catholic, Anglican and Presbyterian leaders in South Sudan and internationally have been supporting the nation’s peace process and pushing the leaders of opposing factions to end fighting and collaborate for the good of the nation.
The three leaders had been trying to schedule the visit since 2016 when South Sudanese Catholic, Anglican and Presbyterian leaders visited the pope and archbishop and asked them to go to encourage the peace process. At least 60 per cent of South Sudan’s population, including its political leaders, are Christian.
Pope Francis also was set to visit Kinshasa and Goma, Congo, from July 2 to 5 and to meet with victims and survivors of the ongoing violence in the eastern part of the nation.
