“Resist any temptation to revert to arms”: Catholic Bishops to Parties Implicated in Rising Tensions in South Sudan

“From the beginning of this renewed crisis, we the Church have stood firm in calling for restraint, dialogue, and commitment to the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS),” they say. 

SSS-CBC members appeal, “We once again call on President Salva Kiir Mayardit, all political leaders, and parties to the agreement, including the R-TGONU, to honor their sacred obligation to the people of South Sudan and resist any temptation to revert to arms.”

In their collective statement, SSS-CBC members recall Pope Francis’ words during his visit to Juba in February 2023, saying, “No more bloodshed, no more conflicts, no more violence. Let there be peace!”

“The arrest of opposition leaders and the involvement of foreign military forces-especially the deployment of the Uganda People's Defense Force (UPDF), has only served to heighten fear and mistrust. Such actions risk turning our beloved country into a battleground for external interests and political manipulation,” the Catholic Church leaders in Sudan and South Sudan warn.

They also caution political leaders in South Sudan against violence, saying, “If South Sudan returns to full-scale violence, the consequences will be catastrophic. The loss of human life, the collapse of national unity, and the breakdown of already fragile institutions will devastate future generations. The political neglect of the suffering of our people, the poor, the displaced, the orphans, and the widows will not go unremembered before God.”

The Catholic Bishops add, “Peace requires forgiveness, courage, and hope. It demands that we look beyond ourselves.”

“As Shepherds of the Church, we remain ready to mediate dialogue, to be a voice for the voiceless, and to walk hand in hand with all who seek genuine peace,” SSS-CBC members say.

They urge civil society, youth and women's groups, traditional leaders, the international community, and all people of goodwill to “stand together against war and for peace.”

The Catholic Church leaders urge South Sudanese to “resist hate speech, tribal incitement, and misinformation, especially through social media.”

“Do not let your hearts be hardened. This land is yours and your children's. Do not let it be soaked in blood again,” they appeal, adding, “Let us not grow weary. Let us not retreat into silence or fear. Let us speak boldly, act justly, and walk humbly before our God. The future of South Sudan depends on the choices made today.”

In the two-page statement that the SSS-CBC President, Stephen Cardinal Ameyu Mulla, signed on behalf of the members of the two-nation Conference, the Catholic Church leaders implore, “May the Lord bless South Sudan, and may the Queen of Peace intercede for her healing.”

Since the signing of the R-ARCSS in Addis Ababa, peace in South Sudan has been fragile. Despite the agreement, tensions between SSPDF and SPLA-IO have reportedly persisted, fueled by political rivalries, politics of succession, ethnic divisions, and delays in the full implementation of the peace deal. 

The situation worsened in early 2025, when renewed clashes erupted between the two factions, leading to widespread displacement and casualties.

The reported arrest of the first Vice President, Dr. Machar, which followed the arrest of other leaders in the opposition escalated tensions in the world’s youngest nation, raising fears of a return to large-scale conflict.

On March 26, South Sudan’s faith leaders held a meeting with President Kiir, during which the 73-year-old South Sudanese Head of State sought to re-affirm his commitment to restoring peace in the country and the religious leaders called on both the government and opposition forces to embrace peace “for the greater good of the nation”.

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In a March 26 Facebook post, South Sudan’s Office of the President said that during the meeting in the country’s capital city, Juba, President Kiir insisted that he was “resolute to ensure the country never returns to war.”

The people of God in the Catholic Diocese of Bentiu and their counterparts in Rumbek Catholic Diocese have embarked on fervent prayers for stability in the country following an appeal by their shepherd, Bishop Christian Carlassare. 

“As we witness rising tensions in South Sudan, I invite our parishes to pray every day for peace,” Bishop Carlassare said in a March 26 note that ACI Africa obtained.

The Local Ordinary of Bentiu, who also serves as the Apostolic Administrator of  Rumbek directed that “the prayer for peace in South Sudan” be said “at the end of the Mass” and that there be, in Parishes, “a weekly initiative for peace - either Eucharistic adoration or the Way of the Cross.”

As renewed violence brews in South Sudan,  Apostolic Nuncio in the East-Central African nation has expressed the Pope Francis’ grievance over the instability, and relayed his closeness with the people of God in the country.

In his homily on March 9 at St. Michael’s Chapel of South Sudan’s Catholic Archdiocese of Juba, Archbishop Séamus Patrick Horgan noted that the protracted violence in South Sudan causes the ailing Holy Father a lot of pain.

Archbishop Horgan urged the people of God in South Sudan to become a source of consolation for Pope Francis by “embracing a definitive and enduring peace”.

Pope Francis has always expressed his closeness with the people of God in South Sudan, appealing to them to say no to bloodshed.

On the first day of his peace pilgrimage to the country in February 2023, the Holy Father begged the leaders of South Sudan to work together to put an end to bloody conflict and violence in their country.

“In the name of God, of the God to whom we prayed together in Rome, of the God who is gentle and humble in heart, the God in whom so many people of this beloved country believe, now is the time to say ‘No more of this,’ we say no more, without ‘ifs’ or ‘buts,’” Pope Francis said, addressing South Sudan’s president and vice presidents in the garden of the presidential residence in Juba.

Earlier, in an 11 April 2019 dramatic gesture, Pope Francis knelt and kissed President Kiir’s feet, and those of Dr. Machar, while begging the leaders to make peace.

The two rival leaders had travelled to the Vatican for a retreat, which Pope Francis hosted specifically for South Sudan’s leaders.