Vatican attends South Sudan independence celebrations
Holy See press office director Fr. Federico Lombardi issued the following statement
Friday: Tomorrow 9 July, the new Republic of South Sudan will be proclaimed in the
city of Juba. For this solemn occasion, the Holy Father has sent an official delegation
headed by Cardinal John Njue, archbishop of Nairobi and president of the Kenya Episcopal
Conference. The delegation, which will also include Archbishop Leo Boccardi, apostolic
nuncio to Sudan, and Msgr. Javier Herrera Corona, secretary of the apostolic nunciature
to Kenya, will bring the authorities of the new State, and all its citizens many of
whom are Catholic, best wishes for peace and prosperity.
As Archbishop Dominique
Mamberti, secretary for Relations with States, said yesterday when receiving a Sudanese
parliamentary delegation led by Ahmed Ibrahim Elthair, president of the Sudanese National
Assembly, peace, reconciliation and respect for universal rights (especially religious
liberty) are the fundamental pillars upon which to construct the new socio-political
circumstances of the region, and vital conditions in order to be able to look to a
future of hope.
The Holy See, which has had stable diplomatic relations with
the authorities of Khartoum since 1972 and will give due consideration to any request
from the government of Southern Sudan, invites the international community to support
Sudan and the new independent State so that, through frank, peaceful and constructive
dialogue, they may find just and equitable solutions to outstanding questions; at
the same time she expresses the hope that those peoples will enjoy a journey of peace,
freedom and development.