Pope to Religious in South Sudan: Remain with People, stay with the People in Whatever Situation they are in
Moses stood with the people to the very end, raising his hands on their behalf. He did not think of saving himself alone; he did not sell out the people for his own interests! He interceded, he wrestled with God; he kept his arms raised in prayer while his brethren battled in the valley below (cf. Ex 17:8-16). Bringing the struggles of the people before God in prayer, obtaining forgiveness for them, administering reconciliation as channels of God’s mercy: this is our task as intercessors”.
Pope to Religious in South Sudan: Remain with People, stay with the People in Whatever Situation they are in
By Sr. Henriette Anne FSSA
Speaking in Saint Theresa Cathedral in Juba on February 4, 2023, the Pope encouraged the Bishops, Priests, Deacons, Consecrated Persons, and Seminarians to “remain with the people, stay with the people in whatever situation they are”.
“Moses stood with the people to the very end, raising his hands on their behalf. He did not think of saving himself alone; he did not sell out the people for his own interests! He interceded, he wrestled with God; he kept his arms raised in prayer while his brethren battled in the valley below (cf. Ex 17:8-16). Bringing the struggles of the people before God in prayer, obtaining
forgiveness for them, administering reconciliation as channels of God’s mercy: this is our task as intercessors”.
On his second day in South Sudan, Pope Francis spent morning hours with the religious reflecting on what it means to be a minister of God.
“Let us ask ourselves what it means for us to be ministers of God in a land scarred by war, hatred, violence, and poverty. How can we exercise our ministry in this land, along the
banks of a river bathed in so much innocent blood, among the tear-stained faces of the people entrusted to us?
Francis underlined that the ministers of the church need to intercede, to come down and place themselves in the midst of their people to act as a bridge that connects them to God.
“To intercede is thus to come down and place ourselves in the midst of our people, to act as a bridge that connects them to God. It is precisely this art of “stepping into the middle” of our brothers and sisters that the Church’s pastors need to cultivate: the ability to step into the middle of their sufferings and tears, into the middle of their hunger for God and their thirst for love. Our first duty is not to be a Church that is perfectly organized, but a Church that, in the name of Christ, stands in the midst of people’s troubled lives, a Church that is willing to dirty its hands for people”, the Pontiff narrated.
Reflecting on the story of Moses in the Bible on how Moses interceded for the People of Israel, Pope Francis told the ministers of God they have been called for the same work.
“Brothers and sisters, we too are called to intercede for our people, to raise our voices against the injustice and the abuses of power that oppress and use violence to suit their own ends amid the cloud of conflicts. If we want to be pastors who intercede, we cannot remain neutral before the pain caused by acts of injustice and violence”.
The Holy Father aware of the social prestige in the society cautioned the minister of God not to exercise their ministry by chasing social prestige but to walk in the midst of their people by learning to listen to them.
“We must never exercise our ministry by chasing after religious or social prestige, but rather by walking in the midst of and alongside our people, learning to listen and to dialogue, cooperating as ministers with one another and with the laity”.
In the Pope’s speech to the priests, consecrated men, and women, he advised them to cultivate mutual respect, closeness, and practical cooperation in order to banish the temptation of individualism and partisan interest.
