The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has called the people of South Sudan to forgive one another and emulate good governance to ensure peace prevails in the country.
The archbishop shared a mass at All Saints Cathedral of Episcopal Church in Juba for a long-awaited “ecumenical pilgrimage” for peace to South Sudan.
Welby says leaders must forgive each other and reconcile for the good of the South Sudanese people and the country.
The religious leader was dismayed by inter-communal violence saying it breaks his heart to see the people of South Sudan perish in conflicts due to cattle-related issues.
“I beg that, at every level of government from the president to the smallest child that they find mercy in God and are transformed. And that No one steal or kill the neighbor for cattle,” Welby urges.
The Head of the Anglican Church also says this weekend shall be remembered in history as the three religious leaders come to work together for the first time after five hundred years.
Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, Iain Greenshields arrived in the country together with His Holiness Pope Francis for an “ecumenical pilgrimage” in South Sudan.
Archbishop Welby says the Catholic, Protestant, and Anglican churches have not been working together at the global level for five centuries since their separation.
He says the new spirit of unity that brings religious leaders together and peace should be a signal for South Sudanese and their leaders to unite the country.
“This weekend is an extraordinary moment, for five hundred years, Protestants, Catholics, and the Anglicans had not worked together at a Global level but we feel it is time to start something that had never happened before,” Welby expressed.
The archbishop says by doing this, the people you are serving will know that you are the disciple of Christ.
He urges leaders of the country to show love to the people they serve by loving one another as a sign of a good disciple of Jesus Christ.
Justin Welby stated that political leaders and Christians should allow Jesus to wash their feet as a sign of washing away all their sins and turning a new life of transformed Christians.