Church in South Sudan “has reached its maturity”: Outgoing Apostolic Nuncio Lauds Appointment of Pioneer Resident Nuncio

In his Farewell Letter dated Monday, August 5 and addressed to members of the Sudan and South Sudan Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SSS-CBC), Clergy of South Sudan, men and women Religious, and the people of God, Archbishop van Megen acknowledges the hard work that had gone into getting an Apostolic Nuncio for South Sudan.

He says, “We have all worked and prayed for this. In each and every visit to the Vatican I requested the Holy See to dispatch a permanent Representative to South Sudan, because the Church in South Sudan has reached its maturity.”

“After many years of talking, writing and praying, which already started in my time as Nuncio in Khartoum (Sudan’s capital), our prayers were finally heeded,” he further says, adding that the newly appointed Apostolic Nuncio to South Sudan is best suited for his appointment.

He says a resident Apostolic Nuncio would contribute to “more effective relations” between the Catholic Church and the South Sudanese State. 

“His Excellency Mgr. Séamus Patrick Horgan is an excellent diplomat and will surely guide this Church to greater heights,” Archbishop van Megen says about the Irish-born Apostolic Nuncio, who was ordained Bishop on July 27 and assigned the Titular See of Árd Sratha.

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He adds that the new Apostolic Nuncio for South Sudan will further strengthen the friendly relations between the Holy See and the Central African nation. 

In his two-page Farewell Letter, Archbishop van Megen tells the people of God in South Sudan that he would “never forget” them, and adds, “Dear brothers in Christ, it is time for me to leave this beautiful country, South Sudan, child of the Nile, land of Kush.”

He reminisces about 5 August 1994, the day he said he first set foot in Sudan, which included South Sudan at the time. 

“It was on this day…precisely thirty years ago, that I arrived for the first time in Khartoum. My arrival that night was accompanied by lightning and heavy rain. I got the wrong impression of Khartoum, thinking that this was a common feature of the climate in that part of the world,” Archbishop Megen recalls.

The Dutch-born Vatican diplomat continues, “Today, as I am writing you in the quietness of my room in Juba, the rain is rattling on the roof. Through the open window a gentle breeze is cooling the house, so different from what I am used to in Juba. History repeats itself.”

He goes on to express his gratitude to people of other Christian denominations in South Sudan for their solidarity with the Catholic Church in the country, which he said was manifested during the first-ever Papal visit to the country in February 2023, the Ecumenical visit that Pope Francis realized alongside the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and the Moderator of the Church of Scotland, Iain Greenshields.

“I was also happy to meet representatives of the Anglican and the Presbyterian Church who worked with us so closely in the preparations for the Ecumenical Pilgrimage of the Holy Father together with the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland,” he says. 

“The visit of the Holy Father Pope Francis will be forever remembered as one of the most important dates in the young history of the Republic of South Sudan,” the Nairobi-based Apostolic Nuncio says. 

Meanwhile, the President of the SSS-CBC has lauded Archbishop van Megen for fostering peace in South Sudan. 

In his speech during the August 4 Farewell Mass, Stephen Ameyu Martin Cardinal Mulla of the Catholic Archdiocese of Juba said that the outgoing Apostolic Nuncio had “exemplified compassion and dedication in his service to the people of South Sudan and Sudan.”

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“His unwavering commitment to fostering peace, understanding, and cooperation has left a lasting impact on our nation,” Cardinal Ameyu said.

The Local Ordinary of South Sudan’s only Metropolitan See highlighted some of the achievements of the outgoing Apostolic Nuncio, including facilitating the appointment of Bishops in South Sudan and the country's first-ever Papal visit.

“It was during your tenure that many things happened. Most of our Bishops were installed during his time,” Cardinal Ameyu told Archbishop van Megen, and added, “It was during your time that the Church in South Sudan had the very important occasion of the visit of Pope Francis.”\

Agnes Aineah is a Kenyan journalist with a background in digital and newspaper reporting. She holds a Master of Arts in Digital Journalism from the Aga Khan University, Graduate School of Media and Communications and a Bachelor's Degree in Linguistics, Media and Communications from Kenya's Moi University. Agnes currently serves as a journalist for ACI Africa.