---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: John Ashworth <[email protected]> Date: Mon, Aug 10, 2015 at 6:13 PM Subject: [sudans-john-ashworth] SOUTH SUDAN CHURCH LEADERS LAUNCH PEACE INITIATIVE To: Group <[email protected]>
1. SOUTH SUDAN: CHURCH LEADERS LAUNCH PEACE INITIATIVE 09 August 2015 (Comboni) – South Sudan Council of Churches (SSCC) has officially launched a Church-led Peace Process. The launching of this Church Peace Initiative took place this Saturday 8th August at Juba Christian Centre. Amongst the invited guests there were Juba Islamic Council, NGOs, International Community, Government and Churches representatives and the Press. Meeting in Kigali, Rwanda, from 1st to 7th June 2015, the South Sudanese Church leaders resolved to create a Peace Process led by the South Sudan Council of Churches (SSCC) with three main directions, as they put it: Advocacy, Neutral Forum and Reconciliation. Through Advocacy the SSCC expects to influence and change the attitudes of the public and the policies of the government and other institutions regarding peace and reconciliation in the country. In this context, one of the echoed messages by the Church leaders has been the one to stop the war in South Sudan immediately. In fact, SSCC issued a Statement in the end of July entitled “Sign the Agreement!” in which Church leaders boldly stated that this “war must stop immediately. There is no moral justification for this senseless war (...) people continue to kill and be killed while leaders argue over power, positions and percentages”. At the opening prayer for the launch of the Peace Initiative, Bishop Isaiah Majok Dau, drawing from Holy Scripture, stated that God has given to the Churches a ‘ministry of reconciliation’ (2 Corinthians 5:18). Similarly, Rev. Peter Gai Lual, SSCC’s Chairperson, stressed in his opening remarks that “the Church stands as one, it is not part of the current crisis and is willing to help to solve the crisis”. A representative from the World Council of Churches attending the launch added that the Church was given a sit at the peace talks in Addis Abba as observer in February 2014 and it continues to play an active role to bring about peace in South Sudan along with other stakeholders. Fr. James Oyet, SSCC’s General Secretary, said that “people in South Sudan have suffered too much and enough is enough”. He further said that the Church’s Peace Initiative is already taking place across the country and abroad in the Diaspora and wants to add values to other peace initiatives. “Women have gone to Bor and Malakal”, he said, “to reconcile other women hoping to reach out their husbands and children to do the same”. He also added that the Church is the “only institution in South Sudan that enjoys people’s trust and can reach many people at the grassroots level, even in the conflict zone amid danger and uncertainty”. The priest mentioned Fr. Michael Barton and Fr. Antonio Labraca, two elders Comboni Missionaries working amongst war-affected people in Jonglei state, as an example of how the Church concretely stands in solidarity with the suffering people and can be an effective instrument of peace and reconciliation. In his closing remarks, the Archbishop of Juba Paulino Lukudu Loro, emphasised what other Church leaders had said earlier: “this war must stop! The peace agreement must be signed because of life”. According to Archbishop Paulino, “the war has made people insensitive to human life, people are dying and nobody cares”. He then invited all people of faith to work together to bring about peace in the country. Earlier on, the Church leaders had said in their last joint Statement that they “do not wish to comment on the substance of the Agreement (as proposed by IGAD), but reiterate that the most important part of it is the Permanent Ceasefire. Once the guns have fallen silent there is a window of opportunity”. Meanwhile the warring parties are gathered in Ethiopia for another round of peace talks led by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) hoping to find a peaceful solution to the twenty months-long conflict in South Sudan. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), since 15 December 2013, this “conflict has devastated the lives of millions of South Sudanese and displaced more than 2 million people. About 1.5 million of them have been displaced internally in South Sudan and over 500,000 are refugees in neighbouring countries”. Tens of thousands have died. The dead line set by IGAD for a peace agreement to be signed is 17 August 2015. http://www.combonisouthsudan.org/index.php/1367-south-sudan-church-leaders-launch-peace-initiative END1 2. South Sudan churches support IGAD peace proposal August 5, 2015 (JUBA) – South Sudan Council of Churches (SSCC), which membership is drawn from different denominations of churches, have fully supported the peace compromise proposal by the East African regional bloc, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), saying it was the only way to end the ongoing bloodshed in the young country. Speaking at the opening of an annual Catholic Bishops’ conference in Juba on Tuesday, Paulino Lukudu Loro, Catholic Archbishop of Juba, said the current consultations ongoing at rebels and governments camps should result to a peace deal later this month. “Our position [as South Sudan bishops] is simply this; that if this document, this position is not signed then it means we are just going on pouring blood, killing, robbing, dying, displaced, refugees and so on,” said Loro, speaking at the two-day conference in Juba. “[If the peace is not signed] that means fighting is simply going on because there is no way out that will stop the fighting,” he said. Archbishop Loro described the IGAD-Plus peace proposal as “not perfect” but better than dragging on with the war. IGAD-Plus peace proposal gives president Salva Kiir’s government 53% executive at the national level and opposition leader Riek Machar 33%. Former detainees and other political parties equally share 14%. The rebels will control 53% of executives in Jonglei, Unity and Upper Nile states and the government will have 33% while former detainees and other political parties take 7% each. President Kiir has however indicated that he will not sign the document in its current form. But Bishop Loro said there must be compromise from the warring parties. “There are many points which are not good, which are not correct, which are not right which must be put in order. But we are stressing that at the end of it, we should not just end up in disarray. We must end up for with the signing of peace for South Sudan,” he said. Negotiations are due to resume in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The government negotiators left Juba for Addis Ababa on Wednesday and have to deliberate on the document till mid-August when the two principals are expected to sign a final agreement. (ST) http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article55937 END2 3. MISSION IN WAR TIMES: SHARING IN PEOPLE’S JOYS AND GRIEFS 10 August 2015 – (www.combonisouthsudan.org) - To walk or drive long distances in a harsh environment to reach out people in their communities is something familiar to missionaries working in South Sudan. Despite all hardships that may come their way, these evangelisers do not hesitate to share their faith with people, bring them the Good News of salvation and offer them support through education, health care and other services. South Sudan has witnessed a political and military crisis, which prompted a brutal war and the increasing of insecurity across the country over the past twenty months. This conflict has devastated the lives of millions of South Sudanese and displaced more than 2 million people. Tens of thousands have lost their lives. Church establishments have also been attacked and looted and missions suspended. The works of evangelisation became far more difficult in this war environment. Yet brave missionaries continue to show their love and care for people in dangerous and stressful situations. Their aim is to be close to the suffering people to encourage them, strengthen their faith and give them hope. Fr. Fernando Galarza is a Comboni Missionary from Mexico. He is one of those who have been evangelizing in the war-affected areas of South Sudan since the times of the civil war with the Sudan. He is now based in Leer, southern Unity state, where he arrived in 2014 and was appointed the parish priest of St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Parish in October the same year. The evangelising Comboni community of Leer is currently composed of three missionaries. The Church facilities in Leer, one of the few buildings standing in town after last year’s attacks, and the residences and compounds of the missionaries had been used as improvised camps for the displaced people whose houses and other properties had been burnt. The same premises were also used by NGO’s staff members and to shelter UN agencies’ personnel operating in the area. This enabled them to deliver some humanitarian services to war-affected communities. Fr. Galarza arrived in Leer amid devastations, insecurity and uncertainties. He knew he could not do much but wanted to be a presence of solidarity with the other missionaries. His main activities were visiting war-affected communities, leading prayers and administrating Christian Sacraments. “In Leer we visited as many communities as we could, big and small, near and far. We prayed at many people’s homes, especially for the deceased members of their families who died during this war. We visited the sick at home and in the hospital. We prayed for peace, together with other Christian communities, on the last day of each month”, says Fr. Galarza. Leer area had been relatively safe for some months. This allowed many people to gather for the celebrations of Holy Week and other Ester prayers since last April. People were able to hold joyful prayer services with a deep faith and trust in the Risen Lord. The missionaries and the main local Church leaders planned for two important events in Leer parish: the feast of the patron saint on 1st May (Saint Joseph the Worker) and the parish council from 2 to 5 May. However, this cheerful environment would soon be overshadowed by rumours that government forces would be heading towards Leer. Despite the worries, the missionaries decided to continue with the parish feast and the parish council to inject some more hope and joy into the hearts of a people who had already suffered a lot at this war. Fr. Fernando testified that “the feast was a real explosion of joy and a great sign of faith to all of us who took part in it. It was especially good for the youth who came in hundreds from all the corners of the parish. The feast lasted three days. For the parish council, all the four counties that comprise the parish were represented. And so were all the faith groups of the parish. We completed our parish council and everybody went home safely”. Suddenly the environment became tense. There were more rumours that government forces would have moved down towards Leer. The missionaries consulted some of the local Church leaders and asked for advice. “We asked them what would be their thoughts about a possible evacuation of the missionaries in case of an attack: would it be good for the missionaries to leave them or to remain with them as they did last year when Leer was attacked in February?”, said the priest. “They told us that it was better for us to go. They said that they did not want us to suffer in the same way the other missionaries suffered last year. They would rather prefer that we would go out safely and return when the situation would allow us to do. They would prefer that we would go out healthy and alive than to stay and become sick or even die and never be back again to Leer to be with them and serve them”, he added. It was 8th May 2015, a rainy day in Leer. It rained heavily overnight. At night the missionaries were informed that the government troops had advanced and would be in Koch. Leer’s civilian population started leaving the town for safer areas, especially women, children, elderly and sick people. The missionaries were now almost certain that the sad events and ordeal of 2014 could happen again. Missionaries and NGOs staffs had no choice but getting ready for an evacuation. And so they did and the mission was suspended. Since last May there have been reports of attacks on civilians and gross violations of human rights such as killing, beheadings, burning of people alive, abduction of children and girls, raping, recruitment of children, burning of houses and cattle raiding. Over one hundred and ten thousand people have been displaced only in the month of May in Unity state. Humanitarian agencies are not able to reach out to people in some areas and food and medicine distributions have been affected. Humanitarian agencies continue to drop food by airplanes where there is no accessibility by land. Despite this, thousands face starvation and many people have been reported dead because of hunger. Some live on fish and water lilies. Leer became a ghost town. Part of the population remains in fear and isolation in the bush while others have fled to the neighbouring counties and to the UNMISS base of protection of civilians in Bentiu. The peace talks have resumed in Ethiopia amid hope and disbelieve of South Sudan’s population. The Church leaders of South Sudan and the International Community are putting pressure on the warring parties to sign a peace agreement. The deadline set by IGAD is 17 August 2015. Leer mission remains suspended since 9 May 2015 due to insecurity. However, the missionary passion remains alive in the hearts of the missionaries. Fr. Fernando Galarza has been able to return to a safer corner of his mission where he continues to show his love and care for the suffering war affected-people of his mission. His presence amongst them strengthens their faith, gives them hope and encouragement. http://www.combonisouthsudan.org/index.php/1368-mission-in-war-times-sharing-in-peoples-joys-and-griefs END3 ______________________ John Ashworth Sudan, South Sudan Advisor [email protected] +254 725 926 297 (Kenya mobile) +211 919 695 362 (South Sudan mobile) +27 79 832 8834 (South Africa mobile) +44 750 364 2508 (UK/international) +88 216 4334 0735 (Thuraya satphone) PO Box 52662 - 00100, Nairobi, Kenya This is a personal e-mail address and the contents do not necessarily reflect the views of any organisation -- -- The content of this message does not necessarily reflect John Ashworth's views. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, John Ashworth is not the author of the content and the source is always cited. You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "sudan-john-ashworth" group. 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