Bishop calls on South Sudan’s Catholics to ‘pray a lot more’ for peace

June 14, 2017

The president of Sudan Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SCBC), which includes prelates from Sudan and South Sudan, called upon the faithful of South Sudan to pray and do penance for peace.

Nearly two million of the nation’s 12.3 million people have fled their homes since the South Sudanese Civil War began in 2013. The death toll has approached 300,000.

The bishops “urge all our faithful and the entire people within the country to strive and promote peace in his or her own capacity,” said Bishop Barani Eduardo of Tombura-Yambio. “Be that agent of change needed in South Sudan! Pray a lot more in sincere repentance of heart with the aim of consolidating peace in the country.”

Responding to the news that Pope Francis has postponed his visit to the nation, he said:

Pope Francis continues to remind us of the cost of war, particularly on the powerless and defenseless, and urges us towards the imperative of peace … Our great desire, hope and expectation as the SCBC for the Sudan and South Sudan is that, the visit of the Holy Father hasn’t been put off completely, but the pastoral visit will be reconsidered and that South Sudan as a new nation will be graced by His Holiness Pope Francis.

 

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Further information:

• SOUTH SUDAN: Strive to Promote Peace in our Country, Bishop Urges Faithful (CISA)