Catholic Pilgrims Killed In South Sudan Latest Victims Of Violence
Sr. Regina Roba (left) and Sr. Mary Daniel Abut. Photo by Friends in Solidarity.
JUBA, South Sudan— Unidentified gunmen recently ambushed a van carrying Roman Catholic pilgrims along a highway in eastern South Sudan, killing five people, including two Catholic nuns.
Sisters Mary Abbud and Regina Robe, the two nuns killed, were returning to Juba from Loa Parish after celebrating the church’s 100th anniversary. Hundreds of Catholic pilgrims, clergy and senior government leaders — including South Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayardit, Vice President James Wani Igga (one of the country’s five vice presidents) and Governor Louis Lobong Lojore — traveled to the event with armed government security forces present.
From Juma, Archbishop Stephen Ameyu condemned the murder of the sisters and proclaimed the deceased as martyrs.
The attack is only the latest to highlight the dangers faced by faith leaders trying to usher in reconciliation after the South Sudanese Civil War and aiding a humanitarian crisis of an estimated 8.3 million people, according to the United Nations. Intercommunal violence has often targeted Christians, about 60% of the population, and has increased ahead of elections scheduled for 2022. About 33% of South Sudan practices indigenous religions, and 6% are Muslim, according to Pew-Templeton in 2010.
South Sudan declared its independence from Sudan’s oppressive regime in 2011. Two years later, civil war killed an estimated 400,000 people and displaced 4 million.
Read: Clergy In South Sudan Face Rising Death Threats But They Refuse To Leave
So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the deadly ambush. The government, formed in 2018 and called the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity, blames opposition groups, while opposition groups blame each other.
The site of the attack, the U.S.-funded Juba-Nimule Road built to ease the flow of refugees returning home after nearly five years of civil war and stimulate economic activity, has served as a shipping lifeline for South Sudan’s economy after the fall of crude oil prices. The attack has sparked fears that the road is no longer safe.
Following the outbreak of civil war in South Sudan in 2013, the largest paved highway became a scene of indiscriminate ambushes and civilian murders. These road ambushes and unpunished violence against religious leaders underscore the importance of reconciliation and stability.
Kiir, commander-in-chief of South Sudan’s armed forces and a Catholic, has considered exiting the peace talks initiated by Pope Francis to reduce violence in the country.
For now, peace talks between the South Sudanese government and the South Sudan Opposition Movements Alliance are ongoing in Rome, mediated by Sant'Egidio, a lay Catholic organization dedicated to social services.
Pope Francis urges South Sudan’s leaders to seek peace
In April 2019, Pope Francis hosted an unprecedented religious retreat for South Sudanese leaders to reflect on the effects of war and explore ways to restore peace in their country. The leaders included President Kiir and his long-time political rival, Dr. Riek Machar Teny, as well as Vice President Rebecca Nyandeng de Mabior and many religious leaders.
Pope Francis urged South Sudan’s leaders to seek unity, reconciliation and peace as he knelt down to kiss the feet of the country’s warring leaders, urging them to avoid another civil war.
“Seek what unites you, beginning with the fact that you belong to one and the same people,” he said.
The pope told the leaders that God’s gaze is upon them, as is the gaze of their people. That gaze, he said, “expresses their ardent desire for justice, reconciliation and peace.”
“People are wearied, exhausted by past conflicts,” the pope concluded. “Remember that with war, all is lost.”
At the conclusion of the Rome-led peace talks, both parties signed a cessation of hostilities agreement, which temporarily silenced guns in parts of South Sudan. But weeks later, the Opposition Movements Alliance split into two factions.
Why the previous peace agreement did not last
The first, led by General Paul Malong Awan and Pagan Amum Okech, signed a declaration of principles with the government while the second, led by Gen Thomas Cirilo Swaka, refused. The leaders cited ideological differences as the cause of the split.
Differences emerged within the alliance after statements by Sunday de John, a former spokesman for the Paul Malong-led opposition group South Sudan United Front, alluded to secret talks between the group and the government in Juba.
In a statement, President Kiir blamed these opposition groups for the pilgrims’ murders, calling the attack “an act of terror,” and said the government may need to reevaluate the direction of the peace talks.
“The fact that sisters Mary Abbud and Regina Roba were coming from the celebration of an important milestone of Christianity in our country, the centenary celebration of Loa Parish, did not matter to these criminals,” he said. “The government signed the Rome Declaration, the Recommitment to Cessation of Hostilities and the Declaration of Principles with the holdout groups with the goal of stopping fighting and saving innocent lives. Now that the non-signatories to the Revitalized Peace Agreement continue to violate this commitment, the government may reconsider its position on the ongoing Sant’Egidio-led Rome initiative.”
Past violence against Christians
Despite a Christian majority and laws protecting religious liberty, violence against Christians has appeared often throughout South Sudan’s short history.
Kiir often blames the opposition fighters for attacks on Christian charity organizations delivering humanitarian aid to the conflict-affected population, but South Sudanese soldiers have also attacked Christians.
In July 2020, at least 23 people were killed and 20 others were wounded after unidentified gunmen stormed an Anglican church compound in South Sudan’s Anglican Diocese of Athooch, in Jonglei State. The assailants took six children as hostages. An Anglican priest was killed a month earlier in a military conflict.
In January of this year, South Sudanese soldiers locked church members in a burning hut.
In May, an unknown assailant raided the residence of Pastor Peter Lokai of the Africa Inland Church of South Sudan in Torit town of Eastern Equatoria State, shooting and killing him.
Then, earlier this month, unknown gunmen attacked a group of mourners at a graveyard in Yei River County. The mourners were preparing the resting place for the deceased son of an Anglican priest.
“The gunmen appeared from a nearby bush and opened fire at us,” one of the mourners, who refused to be named for security reasons, told ReligionUnplugged.com. “Thank God, we managed to escape unhurt.”
Juma Peter is a freelance journalist based in South Sudan who has worked with BBC Monitoring, The Christians Times online newspaper, The Dawn newspaper, The Patriot newspaper and The Independent, among others.