A group of about 60 Catholic pilgrims are recovering after spending nine days trekking through war-torn South Sudan to see Pope Francis in the capital, Juba.

Their mission: to join the Pope in prayer for the world's youngest nation, which has been beset by conflict since its independence in 2011 - a situation that has brought untold misery to millions of its people.

Others, unsure, stood at a safe distance to make way for the group of women dressed in white and wearing headscarves with a print of Pope Francis's face.

In a historic first, he travelled with two other Christian leaders - Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland Rev Iain Greenshields.

In 2019 Pope Francis kissed the feet of South Sudan's bitter political rivals, President Salva Kiir and his deputy Riek Machar, when they met at the Vatican.

Although that conflict has now subsided, many local disputes still turn deadly on a regular basis - on the eve of the Pope's arrival, more than 20 people were killed in a cattle raid.