Holy Father Prays for Peace, Reconciliation in South Sudan, Hopes to Visit

During the April retreat, the Holy Father knelt and kissed the feet of South Sudanese leaders, an act that leaders of Christian Churches in South Sudan have, in their collective November 9 statement, described as “a gesture of the purest humility.”

On November 8, President Kiir and Dr. Machar decided to extend the Pre-Transitional period by one hundred days effective November 12, the expiry date of the previous extension.

President Kiir has recently encouraged religious leaders in his predominantly Christian country to raise awareness of the September 2018 peace document called the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS), which provides the roadmap for the formation of a unity government termed the “Revitalized Government of National Unity (R-TGoNU).

Various entities including the International Crisis Group have considered R-ARCSS significant because since it was signed in September 2018, the parties in South Sudan conflict have largely maintained the ceasefire, allowing people to more freely across areas close to the front lines.

Catholic Church leaders in South Sudan expressed their conditional support for R-ARCSS, advocating for the formation of a unity government “only when essential preconditions have been met, and only when it is truly inclusive, including non-signatories to … R-ARCSS.”

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Dr. Machar has been reluctant to return to South Sudan until issues envisaged in R-ARCSS such as security arrangements, boundaries, and the number of States are resolved.

In his Angelus address Sunday, November 10, Pope Francis expressed his awareness of the challenges that the people of God in South Sudan have continually endured saying, “The South Sudanese people have suffered too much in recent years and await with great hope a better future, especially the definitive end of conflicts and lasting peace.”

“Therefore, I exhort the leaders to continue, without tiring, the commitment in favor of inclusive dialogue in the search for consensus for the good of the Nation,” the Holy Father said.

“Moreover, I express the hope that the international community will not neglect to accompany South Sudan in the path of national reconciliation. I invite you all to pray together for that country, for which I have particular affection,” Pope Francis said Sunday, November 10.

According to the Apostolic Nuncio in Kenya and South Sudan, Archbishop Bert van Megen, Pope Francis has had the desire to visit South Sudan for some time.

“Well it is the intention of the Holy Father (to visit South Sudan), Archbishop van Megen told ACI Africa Sunday, November 10 and added in reference to South Sudan, “it depends very much on the political developments.”

Fr. Don Bosco Onyalla is ACI Africa’s founding Editor-in-Chief. He was formed in the Congregation of the Holy Ghost Fathers (Spiritans), and later incardinated in Rumbek Diocese, South Sudan. He has a PhD in Media Studies from Daystar University in Kenya, and a Master’s degree in Organizational Communication from Marist College, New York, USA.