South Sudan – Conclusion of the Youth Synod in South Sudan
Juba, South Sudan – May 2024 - The Saint Josephine Bakhita Delegation from South Sudan concluded the Youth Synod involving 120 young people from all six Salesian presences in South Sudan. Some of the highlights of the Synod, in addition to the activities and presentations on Don Bosco's dreams and the Synod have been 16 May, Cardinal Stephen Ameyu Martin Mulla presided over the Eucharist and urged young people to continue the synodality through participation, Communion and the ongoing Mission. And on the same day all the participants spent time in adoration and received the sacrament of confession. On 17 May participants went on a pilgrimage to the Cathedral of St Teresa of the Child Jesus and Our Lady of the Rosary, the centuries-old church of the faith in Sudan. They visited a girls orphanage and shared some food and monetary supplies that the young women were able to collect on their own. In conclusion, Fr Paul Antimi, Provincial Delegate for Sudan, Fr Joseph Can, Economer of the delegation and Fr Leo Arockianathan, Youth Coordinator, entrusted the young people with the mandate to be agents of peace and love in South Sudan, urging the young people to courageously continue to dream and realise their dreams. The participants expressed their gratitude for what they had learned and were happy to have made new friends during the meeting, which helped them open their eyes and hearts to live together in peace and harmony in a country with multiple languages, tribes and cultures.