Pope Francis arrived in Uganda yesterday, the second leg of his three-nation Apostolic Visit to Africa, and last night, held a private 15-minute meeting with South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir in Uganda’s statehouse, reported Vatican Radio.
Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the director of the Holy See Press Office, said that the meeting was private and that its purpose, and «the Pope’s intention for it,» was «obviously in service of the peace and reconciliation in the land.»
In 2011, South Sudan declared its independence from Sudan, and since late 2013, it has suffered from civil war. The conflict started after President Kiir had a falling-out with his vice president, Riek Machar.
