Archbishop of Juba denies priests had role in tribal feud
June 1, 2009 (JUBA) – The leader of the Catholic Church in south Sudan’s capital denied charges that religious figures had fuelled the conflict between Bari and Mundari tribes in Central Equatoria State, openly opposing remarks made by the governor and saying the state government is “fast losing credibility.”
In a pastoral message Sunday on the day marking the Solemnity of Pentecost, the Archbishop focused on insecurity in Central Equatoria, where general crime and gun violence has been compounded by outright clashes and raiding between the two closely related tribes, Bari and Mundari.
“Instead of addressing the root causes of the conflict, the Governor of Central Equatoria on May 5, 2009 went to the press and accused the leaders of the Church for fueling up the bloody fights between the Mundari and Bari. The Church is all over preaching the Good News, providing education, rebuilding the people, etc. How can the Church turn and fight itself? We reject these claims and accusations because they are unfounded, not true and unacceptable,” said His Grace Paolino Lukudu Loro.
His message follows a similar rebuttal of the claim made days earlier by the 18th Pastoral Council of Juba diocese. The allegation had stemmed from members of the Mundari community who said that some priests are involved in fueling conflict between Mundari and Bari in Juba and surrounding areas.
“The historical coexistence of the Bari and Mundari people cannot just be spoiled by any Bari or Mundari. The two communities happily shared common borders and language; they intermarry; they have similar clans and the same names of villages; they have lived in peace under one chieftainship; they assisted each other during external aggression; a resolution of a problem by one chief was accepted by the other, etc. The Bari and Mundari are actually brothers and sisters; nephews, cousins, uncles and in laws.”
“Nobody in this present time can dismantle this blood relationship,” he warned.
He suggested also that the insecurity not only leads to displacement, hatred and looting of prayer centers, but also to distrust of the government of Central Equatoria State and its law enforcement agents: “As a matter of fact, the government is fast losing credibility as a result of the state of lawlessness, which it cannot contain in the villages. The raiding of livestock and looting of property have left a land mark that will never be easily forgotten.”
Calling for calm between the two communities, Lukudu said “Remember, it takes you a lot of pain to kill but only a little courage to confess your guilt and be forgiven.”
The fighting was one of a number of security issues addressed by the archbishop. He also touched on the presence and movements of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in the south and south-west parts of the state, called abduction of children in east-north and the east-south of Juba “greatly demeaning,” and labelled cases of rape and robbery “inhuman.”
“We also note with serious concern the free movement of arms and strange groups of armed men. These episodes are leading to the displacement of the villages to the towns,” he observed.
There is at least one report of a priest caught up in the tribal feud. Fr. Santo Lako Pios, a Catholic priest from the Bari tribe, was attacked on April 29 on the way to Terekekea by three Mundari youth. The priest was beaten and sustained serious injuries. He was admitted at St. Kizito clinic.
Referencing the prophet Isaiah, the archbishop urged, “let us promise to hammer our swords into ploughshares and our spears into sickles, to throw the guns into the Nile.”
(ST)
Jurally Abongo
Archbishop of Juba denies priests had role in tribal feud
Dear readers,
I am not surprised by the comments made by the Governor of CES because these words can be easily verified.The priests can be alleged to have contributed indirectly or directly by inciting the youth.
The priests should stop stereotyping other communities e.g.mundari are uncivilised and they are known for the worse senarios while the Bari are civilised and they impressively do this and that,then you are making nothing else but creating sufferiority complex over the later by conceeding the disadvantaged side of inferiority complex.
When we are preaching or giving sermons,the celebrant should stick to the biblical inspirations and constructive criticism.For example,one time in the Arch-Catholic youth Diocesan conference conducted in Northern Bari payam of Kwerejik,the facilitator,Rev.Fr.Hillary Morbe explained the homosexual subtopic in the context of Muonyjang to mean a gay or a man of other men which is completely wrong and improper of him as trained catholic priest.The catholic priests are trained to detect the sensitivity of the topics to the congregation-Can I ask as to which seminary he attended.
The ward ‘muonyjang’anthropologically means ‘muony’one of,and ‘jang’nations/mankind which could all means one of the nations or mankind.The homosexual will be ‘monyroor’.This things are stereo-types which are one of the root causes of conflicts.After this argument,i hope it can be easily deemed that the church/priest have participated in such sagas.I urge the celebrants to be careful when sharing the inspirations with the congregation otherwise,the will one time be quoted for worse incitement taking into account what happened in Rwanda church,the church can not be safe.
The Church should be a house of rest,prayers,holiness,forgiveness and renewed spirits in fellowship not a bee-hive where stings are the order of the
day.
Governor could be right 100%.
Transform the church to what it should be.
Kur
Archbishop of Juba denies priests had role in tribal feud
This is the first time I ever heard about the conflict between Bari and Mundari. Most people in South Sudan consider these two Southern Sudanese commmunities as one community. They have lived in peace for centuries until this year. Therefore something must have gone wrong here, and the Government of CES and the Government of South Sudan should find out the root causes of this evil and deal with it right away. We cannot afford seeing our country descending into choas because of personal greed.
The government of CES should be careful in handling this matter. Going aroun and accusing the church of involvment in this conflict may not be the best thing to do. There are two likely conditions ivolve here: The governor is trying to establish his political power so that he cannot be challenged. The other situation is that the enemies of our freedom are supplying money to political lunatics on bothsides to fuel the conflict. Wani must be careful here. At this time you are neither Bari nor Mundari, you are a national leader. What is at stake here is the cause higher than anything else- the future of South Sudan.
Kur