Pope Francis said he should visit South Sudan this year. After it was announced in the Angelus, the Vatican clarified that it was referring to the year 2020.
POPE FRANCIS
“I address a special thought to the dear people of South Sudan, whom I should visit this year. With the memory still alive from the spiritual retreat for the Authorities of the Country, held in the Vatican last April, I wish to renew my invitation to all the actors of the national political process to seek what unites and to overcome what divides.”
He also asked for prayers for the serious political and social situation in Bolivia. Evo Morales, its president, would announce his resignation hours later.
POPE FRANCIS
“I wish to entrust your prayers to the situation of the beloved Bolivia, close to my homeland. I invite all Bolivians, especially political and social actors, to wait with a constructive spirit, and without any prior condition, in a climate of peace and serenity, the results of the election review process.”
Minutes before, he has asked for applause for the Spanish Maria Emilia Riquelme y Zayas, who was beatified on Saturday. He also recognized Portugese St. Bartholomew of the Martyrs, canonized in an “equivalent” way, without having gone through the whole ordinary procedure. He was a Dominican who lived in the 1500s and took the name “of the Martyrs” to remember the church where he was baptized.