Justice, Peace and Sustainability Weekly Announcement

June 29, 2017

“I am a mission on this Earth; that is the reason why I am here in this world. We have to regard ourselves as sealed, even branded, by this mission of bringing light, blessing, enlivening, raising up, healing and freeing.“
Pope Francis Joy of the Gospel

Pray and Act for South Sudan

South Sudan gained independence on July 9, 2011, as the outcome of a 2005 peace agreement that ended Africa’s longest-running civil war. However, independence did not bring conflict to an end. According to the U.N. Development Report, more than 3.5 million people have been displaced and 7.5 million need emergency aid as a result of South Sudan’s three-year-old civil conflict. Oil revenues have declined, farming and business activities have halted in many areas and inflation has soared. The number of people classified as “severely food insecure” is expected to reach 5.5 million by July 2017, and more than 1 million children are acutely malnourished. The world’s youngest country is now on the brink of mass starvation.

As we approach the sixth anniversary of South Sudan’s Independence, IHM Sisters Joan Mumaw and Annette St- Amour offer a prayer service for the people of South Sudan created by Friends of Solidarity. Joan writes, “Prayer may be the most important intervention we can make at this time in the history of South Sudan. May the energy of the Spirit touch the hearts of leaders in that country that they may work for peace and not war. May this same energy give courage to the people caught up in the violence that surrounds them.” To download the prayer service, go to the IHM South Sudan Resource Page.

Then, click here to send a message (using the Presbyterian Church USA’s e-advocacy site) to your members of Congress and the Trump administration asking them to work with the international community to put increased pressure on the armed actors to halt the conflict, provide humanitarian access and bring stability back to South Sudan.

Did you Know...?
Pope Francis had hoped to visit South Sudan in October to draw attention to the plight of its people but called off the trip because the conditions wouldn’t permit it. Pope Francis is offering more than $500,000 in aid for South Sudan to help. The money will help fund two hospitals run by the Combonian Missionary Sisters, a primary school run by Solidarity with South Sudan and an agricultural project run by the Vatican’s Caritas Foundation. To learn more about the work of Solidarity with South Sudan, click here.
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