Thousands of Christians flooded the streets of the capital in solemn marches, reenacting the crucifixion of Jesus to celebrate Good Friday while praying for peace in South Sudan.
“We pray that our leaders will change their minds. We are now asking Jesus Christ himself to intervene. Every effort has been made, but our leaders are inflexible and do not want one another. They do not want peace,” says Bishop Santo Loku Pio Doggale.
“We need God to bring us peace; peace is what we need every day, and we pray for peace every day. I hope God will answer our prayer and help us find peace, because peace is unity: people will pray together and love one another, and that is the message I am sending to the world. People must love one another and not harm one another; we need unity,” says Lucia Peter, a resident of Juba.
In moments of devotion, invocation, and even sometimes in prostration before divine representations, Sudanese believers seek the peace that politicians struggle to find.
“The history of South Sudan is marked by wars. It is marked by wars. We grew up in the midst of wars. So I’ve really had enough. We need peace, a new chapter for South Sudan. You know, our country is very rich; we are full of resources, but because of the conflicts, we can’t do anything. Economic difficulties, social difficulties, political upheavals and military intervention,” adds Joseph Kenyi Samuel, a resident of Juba.
A month ago, the UN described a deteriorating political and security climate in South Sudan despite a fragile peace agreement and a critical humanitarian situation - "forgotten" by international opinion.
