Catholic Information Service for Africa: Shun Tribalism or Fail, Says South Sudan Archbishop

“If we do not shun tribalism, corruption, killing one another, then that will be the end of our lives,” CISA quotes Archbishop Paulino Lokudu Loro of Juba, South Sudan, speaking in response to recent ethnic violence in the world's newest state. His concerns are not idle: Vatican Radio reports the toll of clashes between the Murle and Lou Nuer tribes as 600 dead, 1000 wounded, and 250,000 displaced.

In addition to border tensions and economic disputes with neighboring Sudan, with whom South Sudan fought a twenty year war for independence, the new state faces severe challenges in education, health care, and economic development, challenges which a fractured society struggling amongst itself will have a very hard time overcoming. Archbishop Loro has called on South Sudanese to "to pray for peace in South Sudan and work towards stability." His intervention is necessary and timely.

South Sudanese celebrating their independence, July 9, 2011