Pope Francis contemplates on trip to South Sudan

Pope Francis is examining the possibility of visiting war-torn South Sudan.

While visiting an Anglican church in Rome on Sunday, the pope said he is considering honouring a request of presbyterian and catholic bishops who have asked him to come even for a day.

In earlier outings , the Pope has repeatedly called on all to stop making statements but provide concrete food aid to to South Sudanese suffering population especially children.

“For example, I am studying, I and my aides are studying the possibility of a trip to South Sudan. Why? Because the bishops came to me, the Anglican, the Presbyterian and the Catholic, the three of them together to say: Please come to South Sudan, just for one day. But don’t come alone, come with Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury,” the Pope said.

The United Nations has warned that areas hardest hit by war and a collapsing economy have left about 100,000 people facing starvation, while one million others are at risk of famine.

South Sudan plunged into conflict in December 2013, when President Salva Kiir accused then vice-president Riek Machar of plotting a coup.

Since then, violence often conducted along ethnic lines has killed thousands and displaced millions in the country, which obtained independence in 2011.