A Nunciature Coming Soon for South Sudan
Juba, the Capital of South Sudan
The Holy See is about to open its first diplomatic representation with a permanent residence in South Sudan, a country that has been torn apart by a murderous civil war for the past 5 years. The Catholics represent 37.5% of the population.
The announcement was made in an official statement from the Sudan Catholic Bishops’ Conference on June 6, 2018: the Secretary of State informed the local episcopate that Bishop Mark Kadima, a Kenyan prelate currently stationed at the nunciature in Brazil, will soon be named Nuncio to South Sudan.
“I express to His Holiness heartfelt gratitude," said Bishop Eduardo Hiiboro Kussala, bishop of Tombura-Yambio and president of the conference that includes the bishops of Sudan and South Sudan.
The imminent opening of this nunciature should make it possible for the Church to provide greater protection for the 3 million Catholic faithful. The true religion is one with the most faithful, winning out over Protestantism, Animism and Islam.
After acquiring its independence from Sudan in 2011, South Sudan has slowly deteriorated in a civil war that, according to the National Catholic Register, has caused 300,000 deaths, and 3 million to leave the country, not to mention the famine that has begun to afflict the country.
A visit to the country from Pope Francis “is being considered, possibly in 2018,” the director of the Holy See Press Office, Greg Burke, had prudently announced in May 2017. It is scarcely likely anymore.
Sources: NCR / La Croix / FSSPX.News – 6/15/2018
