Juba, 04 February, 2024 / 9:46 pm (ACI Africa).
The people of God in South Sudan are at a “critical moment” in their political life as the world’s newest and youngest nation prepares for general elections currently scheduled for December 2024, a Vatican-based Cardinal visiting the country has said.
Michael Cardinal Czerny, who arrived in South Sudan on Saturday, February 3 for his eight-day pastoral trip has emphasized the need for citizens and all the stakeholders in the ongoing peace negotiations to “be faithful” to the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS).
Signed in September 2018 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, R-ARCSS provides a framework for ending the country’s civil war, which erupted in December 2013 after President Salva Kiir accused his then Vice President, Riek Machar, of plotting a coup.
“Dear brothers and sisters, this is a critical moment in the political life of your country. As you prepare for the general elections, pray and work hard to ensure that it is nonviolent, fair, transparent, credible and peaceful,” Cardinal Czerny said in his homily at St. Theresa’s Kator Cathedral of Juba Archdiocese on Sunday, February 4.Credit: Sudan Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SCBC)
To deliver credible elections, the Prefect for the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development (DPIHD), underscored the need for “groundwork”, which he said entails “putting into place needed infrastructures in the political sphere, preparing your minds and hearts for possible transition.”