It’s exceedingly rare for the pope to kiss feet even if it’s a president or leader of any country across the world.
Though it’s rare for the pope to do so, he once kissed Sudan’s leader’s feet in an incident that shocked the entire world.
He just did it for South Sudan’s warring leaders.
Pope Francis kissed the feet of South Sudan President Kiir, his main opponent Riek Machar, Rebecca Garang, wife of former leader John Garang and Taban Deng Gai, Kii’s first vice president.
All four of them looked visibly shocked by the gesture as the Pope knelt down to kiss their feet in turns.
The pope who suffers from chronic leg pain, was helped by aides as he knelt with difficulty to kiss the shoes of the leaders.
Why did he kiss the president on his feet?
Pope Francis knelt and kissed the feet of South Sudan’s rival leaders, in an unprecedented act of humbleness to encourage them to strengthen the African country’s faltering peace process.
The pope asked South Sudan’s president and opposition leader to proceed with the peace agreement despite growing difficulties then.
Sudan, which is predominantly Muslim, and the mainly Christian south fought for decades before South Sudan became independent in 2011. South Sudan plunged into civil war two years later after Kiir, a Dinka, fired Machar, from the Nuer ethnic group, from the vice presidency.
