Catholic Bishop says South Sudan ready to face challenges

South Sudan became the world’s newest nation on Saturday, when it officially became independent of the Khartoum government. The event is the culmination of a 2005 peace deal that ended more than two decades of civil war between Sudan's Arab-dominated north and mainly Christian and animist south.


“I look with hope [to the future],” says Bishop Paride Taban, Bishop-emeritus of the southern Diocese of Torit. “First of all I also thank God for giving this country to Africa. People may look at the poverty at the structure of the people, the illiteracy. I look at their faith and their strength.”

He says he never doubted his country would some day be free.

“I think all the world, including African countries, were afraid,” he said. “Will these people succeed? Are they crazy to go against the strong countries of the Arab world? I say they are not crazy: they are people of hope.”

Despite the challenges South Sudan faces, Bishop Taban says his people have what it takes to overcome any obstacles.

“This is the strongest country of Africa, both in faith and in determination.”

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