The South Sudan and Sudan Catholic Bishops’ Conference or SSCBC welcomes the appointment of Torit Bishop Stephen Ameyu Martin as the new Archbishop of Juba and regrets the inappropriate language used against his appointment.
After a one day meeting on Thursday among the Bishops in Juba, outgoing SSCBC President Eduardo Hiboro Kussala told reporters that the reactions of the clergies and laity will be handled within the Catholic Church.
In a letter dated December 12, three priests and laities wrote that “The next Archbishop of Juba must be a visible sign of unity among all the faithful. This requires that, in addition to his mastery of English and Arabic languages, he must have ample knowledge of the local and the culture of indigenous tribes of Archdiocese of Juba.’
‘We express our deep heartfelt thanks to the Holy Father and we welcome the new Archbishop with full support unreservedly. We became aware of serious reactions from some laity and clergy in the archdiocese regarding the appointment of Bishop Stephen Ameyu. We regret in humility, the inappropriate letter used against the Apostolic Nuncio. Those issues raised can be handled within the competency of the Catholic Church’, the bishop explains.
Bishop Hiboro urges people not to interfere, take advantage of the matter and ask Christians to remain calm and avoid relying on rumours.
He calls on the protesters to use good language when addressing issues.
‘We hope that anytime we bring out issues, we use language that will not scatter people, but language that will bind people, so that we dialogue to come with words that can be able to bring people together. The action is that, we are taking it in prayer. We are church people we don’t have a prison, we pray for conversion of hearts, renewal, goodness and we pray for starting again. That is what has happened, we open a new page’, says Bishop Hiboro.
Bishop Hiboro adds that selecting an archbishop involves a lot of processes and the Holy Father did not make a mistake.
‘The processes of selection involve everybody. So in this case of the appointment, we cannot say the Holy Father has made a mistake because he has followed the procedure that has been there. So to undo it [or reverse the appointment], is not done by virus. You don’t fight it. To undo it, there is also another humble way of going back. It is smoothly followed and answered’ he adds.
He says installation of the newly appointed archbishop will take not more than two months according to the Catholic system.