Pope: A Day of Fasting and Prayer for South Sudan, Congo and Syria

Francis recalled it at the conclusion of the spiritual exercises. The Spirit of God "also flies and works outside" the Church, "it also works in unbelievers, in 'pagans'".

Rome (AsiaNews) - The "day of fasting and prayer for South Sudan, Congo and also Syria", called for today, was evoked by Pope Francis in the words of thanksgiving he addressed today, at the end of the spiritual exercises to Fr José Tolentino de Mendonça, vice-rector of the Catholic University of Lisbon and consultant of the Pontifical Council for Culture, who preached the exercises, held in Ariccia, near Rome.

The Pope also said that the Holy Spirit "flies and works outside" the Church which "is not a cage for the Spirit".  He continued. “You told us and showed us how it works in unbelievers, in 'pagans', in people of other religious confessions: it is universal, it is the Spirit of God, which is for everyone. Even today there are the 'Cornelius', the 'centurions', the 'guardians of the prison of Peter' who experience an inner search or even know how to distinguish when there is something that calls. Thank you for this call to open ourselves up without fear, without rigidity, to be soft in the Spirit and not mummified in our structures that enclose us".

The Day of Prayer and Fasting for Peace was launched by Francis during the Angelus on 4 February. On this occasion he had proposed the initiative, looking at "the tragic protracted situations of conflict in different parts of the world" and also inviting non-Catholic and non-Christian brothers and sisters to associate "in ways that they deem most appropriate, but all together ".

The Pope's invitation was welcomed by the World Council of Churches which announced that in the Democratic Republic of the Congo alone, over 4 million people have been displaced and more than 13 million Congolese are in dire need of humanitarian assistance. The same tragic situation in South Sudan where 2 million people have fled the country, as many are internally displaced and almost two thirds of the population need humanitarian aid.

Card. Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, invited the general secretary of the World Council of Churches, Pastor Olav Fykse Tveit to participate in this Day of Prayer which becomes, he wrote in a letter, "a sign of solidarity and closeness to those who suffer in these nations and especially to the many Christians of different Churches who live there and, moreover, a concrete step in the shared witness of the Gospel of peace, which the world so badly needs ". Pastor Tveit accepted the invitation and extended it to the Churches of the Council, recalling that it is precisely children, young people and women who are the people most affected by the crisis.

For its part, the Anglican Communion has encouraged its Churches to take part in the initiative launched by the Pope. The Anglican bishops of South Sudan have invited to pray in particular for the peace talks in progress in Addis Ababa.

The Ecumenical Council of the Christian Churches of South Sudan wrote that this event "helps us to feel that we are not alone in our suffering and in our sorrow and that the ecumenical world is with us and supports us on our journey towards peace and reconciliation".