Vatican diplomat tells South Sudan

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The Vatican diplomatic representative said South Sudan’s leaders should “respect” Pope Francis’ legacy by ending the conflict in the country.

“We have to try to create concrete in everyday life in South Sudan, and he wants to see real, durable peace to see dialogue as a condition of peace and to see silence of weapons of war,” said Archbishop Seramus Patrick Horgan.

During the late Pope’s historic South Sudan trip in 2023, he urged leaders to end the fight.

Recent acts of violence threaten to end a fragile peace agreement reached between civil war factions in East African countries in 2018.

Tensions in early March were intensified when a militia group formed an alliance with Vice President Riek Machar during the South Sudan civil war and the army.

Nicolas Haysom, head of UN missions in South Sudan, recently warned that the country is “on the brink of returning to a full-scale civil war.”

Archbishop Hogan said in his 2023 visit that Pope Francis was “firmly” calling for “no more blood, no more conflict, no more violence”, adding that the message of the late Pontiff remained “relevant.”

The Archbishop held a mass meeting at St Theresa’s Cathedral in the capital Juba on Friday, saying it was “frustrating” to see constant reports of violence.

The same day, after fighting between the Sudan People’s Liberation Army Opposition (SPLM-IO) and the South Sudan People’s Defence Force, the United Nations called for an end to the conflict in the country.

Meanwhile, Machar, who led SPLM-OIO, was still arrested and faces charges of trying to trigger a rebellion.

Shortly after South Sudan was born in 2011, the country was trapped in a civil war between Presidents Machar and Salva Kiir.

Archbishop Hogan reminded the Archbishop that South Sudan occupied a special place in the pope’s heart, outlining his “extraordinary relationship” with the country and his “feelings” for the people.

Mass is held in Juba on Friday [BBC]

Kiir and vice president Taban Deng Gai also participated in the Volkswagen, two of four South Sudan leaders – in 2019, Pope Francis kissed their feet in the Vatican.

Keel said at the end of the masses: “As a symbol of peace, tolerance, forgiveness, reconciliation, harmony and inclusion, Pope Francis’ message resonates with all the faithful peoples around the world.”

But Christian believers who participated in the massacre said they were disappointed that the president did not take advantage of the opportunity to recompete peace, reconciliation and dialogue.

Justin Badi Arama, Archbishop of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan (ECSS) and Anglican primates who participated in prayer services, said: “It is regrettable that Pope Francis has passed when the revitalized peace agreement was seriously ill.

“As we celebrate his death today, we call on the nation’s solidarity transitional government to do everything possible to ensure that the resilient rehabilitation agreement does not die.”

Santo Loku Pio, assistant bishop of Juba Catholic Archdiocese, said South Sudan’s leaders were on the iconic “simplicity and posture” of Pope Francis held in Rome in 2019, when he knelt down, kneeling down toward peace and reconciliation, and kissed their footsteps.

He said the pope’s gestures were still “deep and moving”.

Bishop Loku added that Pope Francis wanted to give South Sudan an understanding of the urgency of peace, solidarity and reconciliation, but the country’s leaders were ignored.

Ambassadors, religious leaders of other Christian denominations, and representatives of the Muslim community also participated in the prayer service.