South Sudan: “I pray that all may be one”

21/11/2024, Author: Conn McNally

Kinga Schierstaedt, Project Co-ordinator for Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) in Africa, travelled to the landlocked African nation of South Sudan. Bordering the Republic of Sudan, its larger neighbour to the north, South Sudan has suffered terribly from conflict and civil war in recent years. After returning from her trip, Schierstaedt spoke about the current situation in the country and the role played there by the Church.  

South Sudan only gained independence from Sudan in 2011 and has suffered much from war. Many people know of South Sudan as the youngest country in the world. Can you tell us more about the country and its recent history?

South Sudan is a country of extremes and holds many records. Not all of them good. There were two wars between the north and the south in the old Sudan, the first one beginning in 1955 and the second in 1983. After South Sudan finally gained independence in 2011 there was great hope of starting anew, but a civil war broke out in 2013 and lasted until a peace agreement in 2018.

All of this conflict has resulted in millions dead and displaced, and countless more traumatised.

This conflict must have seriously affected the development of the country…

Indeed, millions of children have been unable to properly attend school, as they were displaced from their homes. This explains why South Sudan has one of the lowest levels of adult literacy in the world, with only 35% of adults  able to read. Most shockingly of all, South Sudan is ranked second last on the UNDP Human Development Index, despite being rich in natural resources such as oil and gold.  

How has all of this unrest and conflict affected the Catholic Church in South Sudan?

These conflicts have certainly negatively impacted the Church’s development and ability to minister to the people in the country. For example, the Diocese of Yei in the south of the country suffered terribly during the wars. According to the bishop, approximately 60% of the people in the diocese were displaced. This means that the infrastructure in the diocese is underdeveloped. The bishop has no proper curia, only a hut and two computers. There are nine working parishes but some of them have no functioning churches, with many having been destroyed during war.

The diocese has no hospitals or schools and has only one clinic. They have an ambulance, but they are not allowed to use it. The ambulance has a bullet hole in the window, where a Slovak religious sister driving it during the war was shot and killed. The vehicle has been impounded as part of a police investigation, and for this reason it cannot be used. All the medicines they have are donated, with most of the prescriptions being in either French or German, but no one at the clinic can read French or German, so the medicine is next to useless. However, despite these challenges, people are beginning to return home now, and this brings new hope. In this context, the people turn to the Church in particular as a source of hope.

From what you said, it seems that the people are close to the Church. How would you describe the Faith in South Sudan?

Christianity is an important part of the South Sudanese identity. This is one of the things that distinguishes South Sudan from the majority Muslim Sudan to the north, and the South Sudanese also have a long history of opposing the Islamisation of their country by the north.

The Pope has helped contribute to peace in the country. For example, in 2019, in Rome, he kissed the feet of the South Sudanese president and vice president, who were political rivals, and asked them to make peace. This had a huge impact. Pope Francis’ visit to South Sudan in 2023 was also very important. The slogan of the visit was “I pray that all may be one” and had particular significance in a country like South Sudan, which has suffered so much from tribal division and civil war.

You touched upon the tribal divisions in South Sudan. Tribalism is one of the factors that led to South Sudan’s recent civil war. Is this something with which the Church has also had to deal?

Tribalism impacts every facet of South Sudanese society, including the Church. Someone in the country told me that “the blood of our tribe is thicker than the water of our baptism”. We can see in many cases that tribal practises are very deeply embedded in the culture. For example, some tribes practise polygamy, with men marrying multiple wives, some of whom are very young. This can have tragic results. For example, when we were visiting the Diocese of Rumbek, a very ill baby was brought to be baptised. His mother had been married to a man who had multiple wives and who was old enough to be her grandfather. She was so unhappy that she lost the will to live and stopped eating, even though she was pregnant. For this reason, the baby was very ill when he was born, and he was brought by a religious sister to the bishop to be baptised. Two hours after he was baptised, the baby died. Although some say that this is the peoples’ culture and they should be allowed to continue to practise polygamy, the Church is trying to address this issue, as it has a very negative impact on peoples’ lives, with women suffering the consequences deeply, and it also goes against the Church’s teaching.

Can you describe some of the other challenges facing the Church in the country?

One of the noticeable things about South Sudan compared to the Church in other African countries is the relatively small number of local vocations. There are many reasons for this, such as the low education levels and the disruption caused by continuous war. Also, the fact that girls marry quite young, means that they are never in the position to pursue a vocation, explaining why there are few South Sudanese religious sisters. This lack of vocations means that there is more work for the priests there are. They have been ministering to their flocks in some of the most difficulty conditions imaginable and are exhausted.

Another issue is transportation and communication. Many of the priests are very isolated. They are truly loved by the people in the communities that they serve, but they are lonely as well as tired. The priests are so isolated partly because of the distances but also because of the poor conditions of the roads. We experienced this ourselves with one of our vehicles getting two flat tires in just one journey!

What are some of the areas in which ACN is looking to provide help?

There is a great need for infrastructure projects in the country, building new churches and renovating existing ones for example. However, we feel that further investment in the people and clergy is more urgent at this stage. There are still so many traumatised people and refugees in the country. There is also still a lot of aggression, hurt and tension from the conflicts in the people that need to be worked out. For this reason, we are looking at work and formation in trauma healing. In addition to this, as mentioned, many priests in South Sudan are exhausted and reaching the stage of burn-out. Supporting them with spiritual retreats and sabbaticals is another priority area for us.