Over a month after Pope Francis' ecumenical pilgrimage to South Sudan, the Holy See's ambassador to the nation has said the Catholic Church must “step up its game” to help the people build peace.
Archbishop Bert van Megen, apostolic nuncio to Kenya and South Sudan, was speaking to Catholic News Service after he met privately with Pope Francis at the Vatican on 6 March.
Pope Francis made an ecumenical pilgrimage for peace in South Sudan on 3-5 February with Anglican and Presbyterian leaders.
The nuncio said the Church's mission in South Sudan is now to “keep his message of peace alive and continue the momentum” on the implementation of the milestone 2018 peace agreement which aimed to end the country's civil war.
He felt the visit “recharged this whole process and gave it a direction” but “the question is now how to keep going, how to get people involved and how to get the political leaders really on board”.
Civil war between rival groups broke out in South Sudan in 2013, just two years after it gained independence.
While celebrating Mass in the country's capital, Juba, on 5 February Pope Francis asked officials and militia to “lay down the weapons of hatred and revenge in order to take up those of prayer and charity”.
The 2018 agreement has been violated numerous times, including as recently as 3 March.
However, the archbishop reported “a new awareness of the need for peace” among the country's population, which is struggling “to have a clear idea of what that is” after decades of war.
The nuncio emphasised the need to strengthen South Sudan's government institutions and establish a process for a peaceful transition of power once the country's president, Salva Kiir, leaves office.
Kiir and about 52 percent of the people of South Sudan are Catholic, which underscores the “prophetic role of Church leaders”, said the nuncio.
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