Catholic clerics plead with leaders not to return Sudan, South Sudan to wars

JUBA – The Catholic Bishops of South Sudan and Sudan have urged political leaders in both countries to uphold their pledge of no return to wars.

The bishops made the call in an Easter pastoral message on Sunday after their meeting in the South Sudanese capital, Juba, to prepare for Pope Francis’s visit to South Sudan.

Pope Francis’s trip is set for July 5-7 under the theme, “May all be one.”

Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury, spiritual leader of Anglicans worldwide, and the Rev. Jim Wallace, moderator of the general assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, will join Pope Francis in Juba in July.

“We remain hopeful that our political leaders in both countries will not take us back to war so as to eliminate the humanitarian crisis and pay ways for justice, peace, and reconciliation,” said Dr. Stephen Ameyu Martin, Metropolitan Bishop of Catholic Archdioceses of Juba on Sunday.

Bishop Ameyu said violent conflicts are still killing people, while others are displaced within the country or live in camps.

“Many still died due to armed conflict. Women, children, and elderly people get killed and even the sick get killed in their sickbed,” he said.

The Bishop said those in exile are living in the uncertainty of ever uniting with their families.

“Many of our brothers and sisters are still in IDPs and refugee camps d others are still in exile, they leave with uncertainty whether they will ever reunite with their families,” he said.

According to the bishop, as large areas suffer floods and the rainy season begins, fear looms in people’s hearts.

“We know large areas of our country suffered from floods and as the rainy season begins, fears loom in their hearts as to whether the floods will at all subside,” he said.

“We the church in Sudan and South Sudan look to risen Christ to let us up rise with him to remove the darkness that overshadowed those situations to shine on us with his light.”