“Set aside individual interest”: Catholic Archbishop to South Sudanese Lawmakers

The South Sudanese Catholic Archbishop said he found it regrettable that inter-communal violence has prevented the people from enjoying the “dividends of their fight for independence.”

“South Sudan had acquired her freedom at the highest cost but it is still bleeding badly, especially through inter-communal and intra-tribal conflict,” he said, and lamented, “After independence, we are still killing ourselves trying to live and to get power by force.”

The 59-year-old Catholic leader who started his Episcopal Ministry in March 2019 as Bishop of Torit implored that God transforms “our hearts” and gives South Sudanese the grace to foster “love, unity and forgiveness so that we may truly be reconciled.”

The Catholic Church leader further implored members of the three arms of the government find inspiration in the Holy Trinity, fostering the collaboration that exists between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

“We pray for the three arms of the government, Executive, Legislature and Judiciary, that they may reflect the unity of the Holy Spirit of one in three and three in one in action but not in subordination,” he said.

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The Archbishop of Juba whose appointment to South Sudan’s only Metropolitan See was resisted by some clergy and lay faithful of the Archdiocese through multiple protest letters assured the lawmakers of his continued prayers for God to “grant you wisdom to deliberate on matters of national interest.”

“I pray for protection and good health as the lawmakers embark on the deliberations of an agenda for improving the lives of citizens in the nation,” the Local Ordinary of Juba Archdiocese since his installation in March 2020 said.

He prayed, “Protect us Lord in all that we are doing with thy most gracious favors.”

He further prayed that God liberates His people in South Sudan “from the spirit of violence so that we may resolve our problems through dialogue and constructive debates in the parliament.”