South Sudan media regulator says not every journalist will be allowed to cover Pope Francis’ visit

JUBA, JANUARY 25^th 2023 (SUDANS POST) – South Sudan’s Media Authority (MA) on Monday said that not every journalist in the country will be allowed to cover the visit by Pope Francis next month, but only those who have been accredited will be allowed to do so.

After having postponed his trip last July, Pope Francis, the head of the catholic Church, is finally expected to visit the Democratic Republic of Congo before heading to South Sudan, the world’s youngest country, from 3^rd to 5^th February.

In a statement, South Sudan media authority said accreditation of journalists has been ongoing since December and that those who wish to cover the visit of Pope Francis have until January 27 to submit requests for accreditation.

“Media Authority informs media fraternity that Accreditation of journalists for Papal visit to South Sudan in February 03-05, 2023 has been ongoing since December 2022,” the government media regulator said in the statement seen by Sudans Post.

“International and National Journalists seeking to be accredited for Papal visit should submit their requests to Media Authority’s office at Telecom House in Gumbo-Sherikat, Juba not later than Friday January 27, 2023 by 4:00 pm,” it added.

It said that only journalists it accredited will be allowed to cover the papal visit, adding that accredited journalists will attend a special media coverage orientation on Tuesday next week, a day before the head of the Catholic Church arrive, from the media regulator.

“Only journalists duly accredited by Media Authority in South Sudan will be allowed to cover the event of papal visit. All the accredited journalists for Papal visit will be required to attend a specific media coverage orientation on Tuesday January 31, 2023 at 9:00 AM at Radisson Blue Hotel in Juba, South Sudan,” it said.

“All journalists from Vatican onboard the flight of His Holiness the Pope Francis together with the Archbishop of Canterbury and The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland will receive their press cards through the Vatican Embassy in South Sudan on arrival while the Vatican officials coordinating the Papal visit event will attend the media orientation on behalf of the journalists from Vatican,” it added.