South Sudan Needs Sincere, Unconditional Love to “be in peace”: Catholic Bishop

Bishop Alex Lodiong Sakor Eyobo of Yei Diocese in South Sudan (Credit: CRN)

By Kerbino Kuel Deng*

Tonj, 31 October, 2023 / 3:51 pm (ACI Africa).

South Sudan needs sincere and unconditional love to “be in peace”, Bishop Alex Lodiong Sakor Eyobo of the country’s Yei Diocese has said.

In his Sunday, October 29 homily at Christ the King Cathedral of his Episcopal See, Bishop Lodiong reflected on the Readings of the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, underscoring the response of Jesus about the greatest commandment.

“If you want to be a disciple of Christ, love sincerely and love unconditionally. Believe me or not, you will see that this country will be in peace,” he said.

The South Sudanese Catholic Bishop reiterated the words of Jesus, and called on his compatriots to foster love in practice.

“Love your neighbor with all your heart and with all your soul,” he said, and added, “Love your neighbor with all your mind when you are thinking. Think about your neighbor and be concerned about him.”

The Local Ordinary of Yei Diocese who celebrated 22 years of Priestly Ministry on June 24 further said, “Let this love develop into the love of Christ which is unconditional.”

“If we are able to love in this way, we will not oppress a stranger. We will not cheat the widow,” he further said, and continued, “We will respect orphans, we will not kill, we will be compassionate to people.”

The Catholic Church leader decried various forms of crime in the world’s newest nation, saying, “We are robbing, killing, and oppressing because we don’t love our neighbor.”

“Today in this country of ours, we see everywhere theft, killing, corruption, and exploitation of the people,” the 52-year-old South Sudanese Bishop who started his Episcopal Ministry in May 2022 said.

“It is because we don’t love them. Let us not pretend; we don’t love these people. Even if we come to Church like this, our hearts are not with our people,” Bishop Lodiong said during the October 29 Eucharist celebration.

*Kerbino Kuel Deng is a South Sudanese journalist who is passionate about Church communication. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Social Communications from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA). He currently works as a Journalist for ACI Africa.