Vatican Official Urges South Sudanese to Remain Committed to Peace and Reconciliation

Thousands of returnees and refugees displaced by the ongoing war between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are currently hosted in Malakal Diocese which serves South Sudan’s Upper Nile State. The number of those in dire need of humanitarian assistance continues to rise daily.  

The Vatican Secretary of State will end his four-day visit to South Sudan at the Catholic Diocese of Rumbek on August 17 where he will preside over Mass, and later meet with Church leaders and some more government officials.

In an August 13 interview with ACI Africa ahead of the Cardinal’s visit, Archbishop Hubertus van Megen, the Apostolic Nuncio to South Sudan and Kenya reiterated the message of Pope Francis to South Sudanese leaders saying, “The message of the Holy Father remains the same. It is the message of reconciliation as indicated in the moto for his visit that ‘I pray that all may be one’.”

The Nuncio recalled that the Holy Father’s visit to South Sudan brought people of diverse backgrounds together, and that the Holy Father’s intention was that all South Sudanese “truly become one nation of South Sudan.” 

“In order to achieve the unity of the South Sudanese, the people need to first reconcile with one another,” he added.

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Archbishop van Megen, who started his ministry as Apostolic Nuncio to South Sudan and Kenya in 2019 urged the people of God in the country to look at themselves as brothers, and not as members of the many ethnic groups in the country.

Kerbino Kuel Deng is a South Sudanese journalist who is passionate about Church communication. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Social Communications from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA). He currently works as a Journalist for ACI Africa.