Southern Sudan: high hopes, fears as independence approaches

CWN - July 06, 2011

The people of southern Sudan are in high spirits as the date of their new nation’s independence approaches, reports the secretary-general of the Archdiocese of Juba.

On July 9, southern Sudan will become an independent state, with Juba as its capital, as the result of a referendum vote in January. "The population has high hopes for the future, because it is believed that, thanks to independence, the situation will be different,” says Father Martin Ochaya.

The excitement over independence is tempered by fears of renewed fighting in Abyei and South Kordofan, the border provinces between northern and southern Sudan. Southern Sudan won independence after a long and bloody civil war; the neighboring provinces remain, reluctantly, under the control of the Khartoum government.

Additional sources for this story
Some links will take you to other sites, in a new window.

An appeal from our founder, Dr. Jeffrey Mirus:

Dear reader: If you found the information on this page helpful in your pursuit of a better Catholic life, please support our work with a donation. Your donation will help us reach five million Truth-seeking readers worldwide this year. Thank you!

Progress toward our June expenses ($13,107 to go):
$30,000.00 $16,892.93
44% 56%
Sound Off! CatholicCulture.org supporters weigh in.

All comments are moderated. To lighten our editing burden, only current donors are allowed to Sound Off. If you are a donor, log in to see the comment form; otherwise please support our work, and Sound Off!

There are no comments yet for this item.

Catholic World News Email Newsletter
Donate to Support this Site: Your contribution will be put to good work.
Tour the CatholicCulture.org Site
Shop Amazon to Raise Money for Catholic Culture

Recent Catholic Commentary

Thankfully, electing a pope is not like electing a president. 11 hours ago
Excellent critique of bias in New York Times abortion coverage 12 hours ago
Pope Francis the Frank June 18
“Illegals” are not “Immorals”: A Persistent Immigration Fallacy June 18
News coverage of the Vatican: the blind leading the blind June 18

Top Catholic News

Most Important Stories of the Last 30 Days
Vatican document demands governments protect refugees CWN - June 6
Pope acknowledges 'gay lobby' influence in Vatican CWN - June 11
Pope confirms he is completing encyclical on faith begun by Benedict XVI CWN - June 13