Pope Francis knelt to kiss the feet of South Sudan ’s leader Salva Kiir to appeal to him to maintain peace in the country.
The Pope also appealed to President Salva Kiir , his former deputy turned rebel leader Riek Machar , and three other vice presidents to respect any peace agreement they signed and commit to forming a unity government in May .
In his words: “I am asking you as a brother to stay in peace . I am asking you with my heart , let us go forward .
“There will be many problems but they will not overcome us . Resolve your problems” the Pope said.
The leaders appeared to be stunned as the 82 – year -old pope , helped by aides, knelt with difficulty to kiss the shoes of the two main opposing leaders and several other people in the room .
The pope ’s words were made even more pressing as anxiety grew in South Sudan over whether Thursday ’s coup in neighbouring Sudan could scupper a fragile peace deal that ended South Sudan ’s brutal five -year civil war.
