‘Bountiful’ South Sudan can only feed its people in peace, say bishops

‘Food is dignity. Food is stability. Food is peace,’ said Bishop Barani Eduardo Hiiboro Kussala as he urged families to return to the land and cultivate with hope.

Catholic bishops in South Sudan urged the people to choose peace and remain hopeful, calling on the authorities to invest in food security rather than weapons of war.

The bishops made their pleas in separate Easter messages, delivered amid fears that the nation was sliding back to civil war.

Bishop Barani Eduardo Hiiboro Kussala of Tombura-Yambio told the people of his diocese that their “Galilee” was in South Sudan, where the soil is rich, “yet hearts are wounded [because] where God has given abundance, yet our people still hunger”.

Kussala said South Sudanese must face the difficult truth that the taking of life had been tolerated, and even celebrated as bravery, revenge or pride. Instead, he urged them to choose love and life over death, since life is sacred and belongs to God.

“Easter is the victory of life over death. Yet in our land, death still walks too freely. Violence has wounded our nation, and too often human life is taken lightly,” he said.

A nation that does not protect life cannot stand, warned the bishop, and people who do not value life cannot prosper.

“There can be no food security without human security. When people are afraid, they abandon their farms. When violence spreads, fields fall silent. When life is threatened, hunger follows,” he said, reminding the people that God has blessed South Sudan abundantly, the land can feed them, but only in peace.

“Food is dignity. Food is stability. Food is peace,” he said as he urged families to return to the land and cultivate with hope.

Bishop Matthew Remijio Gbitiku of Wau said South Sudan needed peace, but this was not possible without true disarmament.

“The requirement that our country provides for its own defence must not turn into a race to rearmament. True security cannot be achieved through a continuous, escalating arms race that breeds fear and destroys human life,” he said. “Instead, it requires disarmament to stop the drain of resources from human needs.”

The bishop appealed to leaders to use the available resources to help the needy, fight hunger and promote the development and welfare of the citizens.

“These are the weapons of peace,” said Gbitiku. “Weapons that build a bright future for our country instead of sowing seeds of death or divisions among the sons and daughters of South Sudan.”

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