SUDAN (ACN News): The peaceful creation of South Sudan bodes well for the fledgling nation but disaster could yet unfold unless serious issues are addressed quickly, leading bishops in the region said.
Bishop Eduardo Hiiboro Kussala of Tombura-Yambio hailed the success of formalities on July 9 marking the independence of South Sudan, describing it as a “wonderful day in the history of our people”.
Reporting a peaceful and jubilant atmosphere both in the new capital, Juba, and in his nearby diocese of Tambura-Yambio which is up to 65 per cent Catholic, Bishop Hiiboro described the people as “very optimistic” and with “high expectations” of the future.
The bishop described the people’s joyful spirit during a prayer vigil in Yambio held the evening before independence day and continued euphoria the next day when large crowds attended Masses across the region.
Speaking to Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need from Yambio, in South Sudan’s Western Equatoria State, Bishop Hiiboro said: “The celebrations here went wonderfully well. It was really a blessing of God that we had no violence.”
But the bishop, warned of serious difficulties ahead.
He singled out reports of droughts threatening harvests, a problem compounded by the return of thousands of people from displacement camps near Khartoum, the capital of Sudan.
Bishop Hiiboro’s concerns echoed comments made in a pastoral letter he wrote, issued on independence day, in which he admitted to “mixed feelings” about the future.
Highlighting the need to tackle worsening humanitarian problems, he wrote: “The challenge is immense.
Sometimes, it will come down to a decision: What must I give up that this person might eat, be clothed, be sheltered, etcetera?”
Meanwhile, in an interview with ACN, Bishop Daniel Adwok, Auxiliary for Khartoum, warned of the increased threat of conflict spreading from disputed regions close to South Sudan’s border with the north, including the Blue Nile state and oil-rich Abyei.
“I do not think the South will stand idle if it sees its former allies experiencing fatalities and other forms of suffering,” Bishop Adwok said.
Already, reports indicate up to 170,000 people have been displaced amid fighting in South Kordofan.
Bishop Adwok stressed the threat posed by seven or more militia groups linked to conflict in South Sudan.
Advocating dialogue aimed at early conflict resolution, Bishop Adwok said: “These are big issues. If the Government of South Sudan does not sit down to address the issues raised by the militia groups, it could become a nightmare with no stability for the South.”
Bishop Adwok said that in Khartoum the ruling National Congress Party was as yet divided on plans to enforce Islamic Shari’a law more vigorously in Sudan with potential worsening discrimination and oppression of minority groups including Christians.
He said that in his pastoral region of Kosti, he had called for calm in advice given to many of the 18,000 people amassing around the town, awaiting transport down the River Nile and repatriation to the south.
