South Sudan Bishop calls for strong families

Bishop Rudolf Deng Majak of Wau Diocese in South Sudan has called for strong Catholic families. “Strong family is strong Christianity and weak family is weak Christianity,” the Bishop said.

Bishop Deng said this in an interview with Vatican Radio, at the weekend. Besides calling for strong family life, he has spoken passionately about the need for reconciliation and an end to the South Sudan conflict.

Bishop Deng pointed out that poverty is not only the lack of necessities of life such as food and accommodation.  Human beings, he said, have basic needs but, “Poverty cannot be limited to only lack of food and accommodation.  The absence of love, care, solidarity and sacrifice fundamentally define the meaning of poverty.  Love is the foundation and the first experience of family life,” he emphasised.

According to the Bishop, the great values of love, acceptance, solidarity and dignity of the human person are to be found in the family hence his call for strong Christian families. He added, “Strong family is strong Christianity and weak family is weak Christianity.”

Responding to the question on how to nurture reconciliation and peace especially with regard to the South Sudan conflict, Bishop Deng noted that the leaders of South Sudan would do well to take seriously Pope Francis’ call for peace that only the Lord Jesus can give. “Our Lord Jesus calls each one of us in the human family to be sincere, just and to love one another,” Bishop Deng said.

Fighting in South Sudan erupted in December 2013 after President Salva Kiir dismissed his deputy, Riek Machar accusing him of plotting a coup. Since then, more than 10,000 people have been killed while more than 1.5 million are now displaced from their homes.

South Sudan’s warring leaders missed an opportunity for peace in March, this year. IGAD the East African regional bloc which stands for the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) mediated a power sharing deal between the two South Sudan rivals. Unfortunately, the IGAD peace process collapsed in Ethiopia when South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir and Riek Machar failed to reach a peace deal.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn who chaired the IGAD talks criticised South Sudan’s leaders for inaction and prolonging the suffering of their citizens in what he termed a “senseless war.”

(By Rudolph Nyamudo, Vatican Radio)

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