A retired Catholic archbishop has described the killing of civilians on the eve of the historic visit of Pope Francis to South Sudan as “embarrassing”.
At least 21 people were killed in a cattle raid in a reprisal attack on cattle camp in Kajo-Keji County of Central Equatoria.
“It is surely embarrassing because in a way South Sudanese are saying ‘we don’t care whether you (the Pope) are here or not, we will continue living our lives as before,’ but it is that idea of caring there that the Pope wants to bring back,” Cardinal Gabriel Zubeir Wako, the Archbishop Emeritus of Khartoum, told the BBC.
Pope Francis, the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, Iain Greenshields, are due to arrive in the capital Juba on Friday to encourage peace and reconciliation in the country riven by conflict.
On Thursday, the Archbishop of Canterbury said he was “horrified” by the attack on the eve of his visit.
“It is a story too often heard across South Sudan. I again appeal for a different way: for South Sudan to come together for a just peace,” he posted on Twitter.
South Sudan has continued to experience widespread violence and ethnic tensions, despite a 2018 peace deal signed by rivals President Salva Kiir and former rebel leader and now Vice-President, Machar.
Cardinal Zubeir told the BBC that it was time for the South Sudanese people to fight for their dignity, instead of continuously killing themselves.
Pope Francis has arrived at the airport in South Sudan’s capital, Juba, on the second leg of his latest visit to the continent.