In October 2016, the Catholic Archbishop of Juba, the (Anglican) Archbishop of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan and Sudan, and the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of South Sudan, travelled to Rome.
The Christian leaders asked the Pope to “please, come to South Sudan, even for a day, but don’t come alone, come with Justin Welby. (Archbishop of Canterbury)”
“We are looking at whether it is possible, or if the situation down there is too dangerous,” said Pope Francis. “But we have to do it, because they - the three [Christian communities] - together desire peace, and they are working together for peace.”
According to Caritas International, there are one million people in imminent danger of famine in South Sudan, and in total 5.1 million are in urgent need of food.
At least 270,000 children are suffering acute malnutrition.
A few days ago it was announced that because of the extreme danger the trip would be postponed until 2018. Although Francis visited the Central African Republic, which was in a state of civil war and he is not afraid of visiting a war zone, the situation in South Sudan has become too unstable.