Vatican City, Apr 9, 2019 / 11:59 am
The leaders of the newest country in the world will meet this week in the smallest country in the world.
Vatican City will host the leaders of war-torn South Sudan for a spiritual retreat April 10-11, with the goal of facilitating "encounter and reconciliation, in a spirit of respect and trust" for those who have "the responsibility to work for a future of peace and prosperity for the South Sudanese people," Vatican spokesman Alessandro Gisotti said April 9.
The retreat, co-hosted by the Vatican Secretariat of State and the Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, has the potential to be a peacebuilding effort that is "both ecumenical and diplomatic at the same time," Gisotti said.
Each retreat participant will receive a gift of a Bible signed by Pope Francis, the Anglican Primate Justin Welby, and the former Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland Reverend John Chalmers. The Bibles will be inscribed with the message, "Seek that which unites. Overcome that which divides." The spokesman did not disclose which translation of the Bible will be gifted.