The Importance of the Pope's Visit to South Sudan
The visit of Pope Francis to South Sudan brings much-needed attention to a country troubled by war and conflict.
By James Bradshaw
Holy Mass at Malakal refugee camp. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need)
The long-awaited visit of Pope Francis to South Sudan brings much-needed attention to a country that faces huge challenges. Its multi-sided civil war began in 2013 and has continued intermittently in spite of a 2018 peace agreement between leaders including the President Salva Kiir (part of South Sudan’s largest tribe, the Dinka) and the First Vice President Riek Machar (a Nuer, the second most numerous tribe). This conflict was preceded by two hugely destructive wars where the South sought freedom from the Islamic government of Sudan.
The ruins of the Comboni church at Kit, destroyed by the Islamist Sudanese government in the 1908s. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need)
Historically, Christianity reached the ancient kingdom of Nubia early on, but the rise of militant Islam in the seventh century swept all this away. Islamic culture did not permeate to the isolated south until the commencement of massive slave raids in the 19th century. Britain’s conquest of Sudan brought a certain respite, but South Sudan was later included in the newly independent Sudanese state against the clear wishes of its people.
The wars that followed between 1955-1972 and 1983-2005 occurred as the Khartoum regime sought to impose sharia law on all of Sudan, including those areas where Christianity had established a firm foothold due to the courage of missionaries like the founder of the Comboni Missionaries, St. Daniele Comboni.
Fearing this, the Islamic government expelled all foreign missionaries in 1962, and their violent persecution of the Church can today be seen in the ruined Comboni church outside Kit, which was destroyed by the Sudanese military in the 1980s.
Yet South Sudan still emerged from its near 60 year enslavement as a predominantly Christian nation. Churches are well-attended, and the Catholic Church plays an enormous role in providing education, healthcare and humanitarian assistance, while promoting peace between the warring factions.
In addition, the Church has sought to make trauma counselling available to those who need it, and ACN has paid for priests to undertake academic courses in this area. ACN’s work in supporting priests through Mass Stipends is particularly vital in a context where an impoverished country struggles to sustain its clergy.
Sprawling parishes contain isolated outstations where the faithful may only get to attend Mass a few times each year. . While the number of seminarians is growing, religious orders are still heavily relied upon.
Obvious growth can be seen though, and in the parish within the refugee camp in Malakal, upwards of 1,000 Catholics come to Mass each Sunday, while 120 people of all ages are currently being prepared for reception into the Church.
Bishop Carlassare (furthest figure on the left) during Holy Mass. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need)
The Bishop of Rumbek Christian Carlassare’s story is illustrative of both the suffering and the hope which exists here. In March 2021, Pope Francis named the Comboni missionary priest Bishop of Rumbek.
Shortly thereafter, Carlassare was attacked by armed assailants at his residence and suffered several gunshot wounds to his legs. Now recovered, he is focusing on implementing a four-pillar strategy focused on evangelisation, justice and peace, education and human development.
Communicating the Catholic faith to those who have not yet been reached is Bishop Carlassare’s first priority, and the involvement of the laity is vital.
“With evangelisation, we mean especially the formation of the pastoral agents, because we are a Church that is not only based on the priests and the missionaries as evangelisers but we realise that the first evangeliser is the same population: that in the moment that they convert and take up the Gospel, [they] can become a ferment within their communities,” he said.
The people of South Sudan have endured extraordinary suffering, often on account of their refusal to reject Christ. When the Pope departs, it is hoped that the Universal Church will continue to remember South Sudan’s people.