Scottish Catholic Observer

Pope Francis has donated almost half a million dollars in aid money to South Sudan, following the postponement of a Papal visit to the war-torn and impoverished country.

Cardinal Peter Turkson noted that the donation was to ‘make tangible the closeness of the Church’ following the cancellation of the Papal visit, which was due to take place this year with Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby in attendance,

The Holy Father’s donation will see funds go towards helping two hospitals that are run by the Church, a teacher training centre, and farming projects for families.

It is a way for the Pope to show his support for those in the region, and ‘to make tangible the presence and closeness of the Church with the suffering people through this initiative,’ Cardinal Turkson said at a Vatican press conference on Wednesday.

“He fervently hopes to be able to go there as soon as possible on an official visit to the nation; the Church does not shut hope out of such an afflicted area,” he said.

The Pope’s visit aimed to attract the world’s attention to a silent tragedy, to let the voices of those suffering to be heard, and encourage parties in conflict with one another to find better and renewed efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the ongoing conflict, the cardinal, who is the prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, said.

The Pontiff expressed doubts in March this year about the trip, saying that the trip to the country was ‘important’ but that ‘I don’t believe that it is possible.’

He approved the project funding in April, a month before it was officially announced that the trip would be postponed.

The initiative, ‘The Pope for South Sudan,’ aims to supplement, support and encourage the ongoing work of religious congregations, Catholic organisations, and international aid groups there that ‘generously and tirelessly’ help those in need and promote peace and development in the region.

The country achieved independence from Sudan in 2011 following many years of war, but political disagreements two years later turned into violence once more.

The violence, lack of security, drought and issues of displacement have led to widespread hunger and malnutrition, with around 3.8 million displaced and 28 million seeking food aid.

A £160,000 donation by the Pope will support a Caritas South Sudan programme that gives fast-growing seeds and farming tools to 2,500 families, and £88,000 will go towards Solidarity with South Sudan, an international Catholic network that funds 16 scholarships and a training programme for primary school teachers from all ethnic and cultural backgrounds to teach tolerance and reconciliation as well as education.

A further £118,000 will fund two Comboni Missionary Sisters hospitals, with Sr Laura Gemignani, a Comboni Sister, telling of the few resources the hospitals have to support the small staff force and numerous patients.

Sr Gemignani said that the hospital in Wau has 300 patients every day and 40,000 a year, but with only one doctor available.

“It is hard to pay his salary,” she said. However, the staff continue to work there despite the great levels of insecurity and danger, with staff refusing to evacuate due to fighting as long as there was even one patient left to be treated.

“The Holy Father does not forget the unheard and silent victims of this bloody and inhumane conflict, does not forget all those people who are forced to flee from their homes because of abuses of power, injustice and war,” Cardinal Turkson said. “He holds all of them in his prayers and his heart.”