A South Sudanese cardinal told journalists in Rome Friday that he believes a pragmatic synodality can be the means for achieving peace in his country, and amid the bishops of his fractured episcopal conference.
“The synod journey helps us the Church to resolve many problems together” Cardinal Stephen Ameyu Mulla of the Archdiocese of Juba, South Sudan said at a Vatican press conference Oct. 18.
“Synodality — going together — is for us the way to achieve peace [in South Sudan].”
While conversations about synodality have in some places become broad-reaching, the South Sudanese cardinal expressed his belief that the Church’s emerging method of prayerful dialogue and reflection could have wide-ranging implications both with and outside the Church, and could be used as a way to achieve peace in war-torn Sudan.
“The synod journey helps us together to resolve many human problems, South Sudan, a country which [became independent] in 2011, has also shared these problems,” he said, referring to the war in which South Sudan split from Sudan.
Noting that South Sudanese and Sudanese bishops form a single bishops’ conference, Mulla acknowledged challenges related to the history of conflict between the countries, and the struggles faced in both nations.
“We have tried our best to continue to help the poor people of South Sudan and Sudan.” Mulla said, while suggesting that bishops of his conference could also benefit from prayerful and synodal conversation between themselves.
Beyond the bishops’ conference, Mulla acknowledged ongoing struggles on his country, which he said might be helped by more conversation among South Sudanese people.
“We got independence from Sudan and we thought we would be able to solve our problems, but it seems that problems increase in South Sudan, we still have issues with a revitalized peace agreement, which the leadership in South Sudan is unable to implement by the letter,” he said.
Mulla mentioned a 2018 raudience Pope Francis held with the South Sudanese president and the leader of the opposition, when the Vatican brokered a peace deal between the parties.
“They came here to the Holy Father. Many of you witnessed how the Holy Father was very touched by the situation ... but after they left [Rome], they did not implement the revitalized peace agreement. So, as a result, the country is still unstable. We continue to insist as bishops that this revitalized peace agreement should be implemented by the letter,” he said.
For Mulla, the solution to the country’s stalemate is synodality.
“We think that the synod will also help us as bishops to dialogue with them, to help the politicians resolve the social and political problems we have in the country,” he said.
Mulla added that South Sudan faces the paradox of growing as a Church but regressing as a state, especially due to the crisis in neighboring Sudan.
“We used to have seven dioceses, but an eighth diocese was created last July. [South Sudan] is growing as a Church, but it is regressing from a social and political aspect.”
“As we speak also, our sisterly country, our motherly country, Sudan, is bleeding. The war [that started] on April 15 of last year continues to displace thousands of people. The war started in the city of Khartoum, and many of our church members in Khartoum have been displaced, including the Archbishop of Khartoum, who is in Port Sudan,” he said.
“Many churches were damaged and many properties of the church were destroyed.”
“In Sudan, two generals just decided to bring war on people, and, as a result, many people have lost their lives and many properties have been devastated (...) some of you have been in Khartoum, you wouldn’t [recognize] Khartoum any longer, they’ve bombed down all those buildings because the rebels are there, nobody is safe in Khartoum,” he added.
The cardinal added that he thought that synodality could change the ways that both political and ecclesiastical leaders see their roles.
“We’re suffering [because of] people who want power but not service ... that is one thing that this synod on synodality is emphasizing: we are not leaders in order to rule people, we’re leaders in order to serve people, this is clear in the synod,” he said.
“It is for this reason that it is important to dialogue, without dialogue we cannot settle things in the church nor in the political arena. Synodality, going together, is the way for us to resolve our own problems,” Mulla added.
South Sudan became independent after an almost three-decade-long war with Sudan in 2011. However, the country would quickly fall into its own civil war in 2013 until a Vatican-brokered peace was achieved in 2020. However, the local bishops’ conference said the peace was frail and would be short-lived.
Although there are no large-scale battles many regions in the country are still unstable and suffer from inter-ethnic conflicts.
Sudan, its northern neighbor, has been embroiled in a civil war since April 15, 2023, which has led to over 2 million refugees and 7 million internally displaced people, among them Khartoum’s Archbishop Michael Mangoria.
