Churches in South Sudan are appealing for humanitarian assistance, amidst fears that the consequences of climate change, macro-economic shocks, and the war in Sudan could sink the country further into the worst humanitarian crisis since independence.
World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay met with South African president Cyril Ramaphosa, discussing peace initiatives across the globe—and the role of the WCC and South African leaders.
In Renk, a small South Sudanese town on the banks of the White Nile, churches are working to help thousands of people fleeing the war in the neighbouring Sudan.
During an ecumenical morning prayer held 15 May, the World Council of Churches (WCC) staff and partners observed the UN International Day of Living Together in Peace, holding in prayer many nations across the world facing challenges to living together in harmony.
In a pastoral letter to the churches of South Sudan and to Norwegian Church Aid, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay expressed shock and sadness about the news of an attack on Norwegian Church Aid vehicles in Imehejek, Lopa Lafon, in the Eastern Equatoria region of South Sudan.
South African Council of Churches general secretary, Bishop Malusi Mpumlwana, released a video message of peace and reassurance as, he notes, more and more voices are reaching out for the word of God.
After receiving a pilgrimage of global religious leaders, the South Sudan Council of Churches released a statement on 10 March echoing the church leaders’ call for nonviolent means to solve the nation’s problems.
As South Sudan readied to welcome visiting world Christian leaders, church officials in the country articulated a range of expectations, including a strong call for peace and reconciliation.
At the World Council of Churches 11th Assembly in Karlsruhe Germany, Jackcilia Salathiel Ebere will be carrying the voices of women from South Sudan who are crying for peace and justice.
Elisama Wani Daniel, from the Province of the Episcopal Church of Sudan, spoke about the prophetic role of the church in helping the people of South Sudan, which he describes as “a country that has gone through many struggles in its history.”
When heads of Churches in South Sudan unveiled the Action Plan for Peace in the Rwandan Capital, Kigali in 2015, the immediate aim was to stop the war.
A church leader in South Sudan is urging the international community to keep its focus on the growing humanitarian crisis in the world’s youngest nation, as the globe beams its attention on the conflict in Ukraine.
While the World Council of Churches (WCC) deeply appreciates peace-building efforts in South Sudan, the WCC is also calling attention to the dire circumstances in which the people of South Sudan are still forced to lead their daily lives.
An ecumenical leader in South Sudan has appealed to the world not to give up on his country, which during the first decade of its independence has repeatedly slid backward into political and ethnic violence.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA) has facilitated churches’ engagement in a wide range of critical issues of the world since the last WCC Assembly in Busan, concluded the 58th meeting of the WCC CCIA, gathering church representatives in Johannesburg and online in the 75th anniversary year of the Commission’s creation.
The Ecumenical Network on South Sudan (Europe and North America Hub), on the occasion of International Peace Day on 21 September, released a call entitled “High Time for Peace and Accountability in South Sudan.”
On 18 July, prayer services in South Africa will mark Nelson Mandela’s birthday and will also be an opportunity to pray for unity.
The Religious Forum Against COVID-19 has elected to observe the day in both a nationally broadcast prayer service as well as observing 67 minutes of prayer that evening.
The South African Council of Churches, in a 15 July statement, called for supporting a campaign of restoration and addressing the root causes of the unrest that is happening simultaneously with a third wave of COVID-19.
A 12 July statement from the South African Council of Churches notes with deep concern the violence and destruction of property that is engulfing the nation. “This violence is resulting in untold suffering,” the statement reads.