Christians and Muslims gathered on Sunday in Wau to pray for reconciliation and healing ahead of the referendum.
The prayer meeting under the theme Reconciliation for a Just and Lasting Peace was held at the Freedom Square and attended by representatives of various Christian churches and Muslim communities, SCR News correspondent reported.Catholic Bishop Rudolf Deng Majak of Wau in his keynote speech urged the believers of all religions to reconcile ahead of the referendum.
Bishop Deng advised the participants to enter the referendum with pure hearts far from the spirit of revenge, hatred and tribalism.
The Representative of the Islamic Council of Southern Sudan, Badar-Deen Abdurrahman, urged both Christians and Muslims to resort to their religious teachings as sources for a peaceful co-existence.
Mr. Abdurrahman urged the participants at the prayer meeting to reconcile and forget all that happened during the 21-years of war.
ECS Bishop Moses Deng of Wau urged the people of Bahr El-Ghazal and Southern Sudan as a whole to forgive one another in order to reconcile.
Natalina Andrea Mabo, who coordinates the Justice and Peace Department of the Catholic Diocese of Wau, invited worshipers to write on a piece of paper the bad things they did over the past year, and promise that they would not do them again.
Almost everybody welcomed the appeal and the papers were thrown into drums which were burnt by the religious leaders.
The event was part of the 101Days of Prayer for a Peaceful Referendum, an initiative of the Catholic Church.
It was organized by the Justice and Peace Commission of the Catholic Diocese of Wau.