South Sudan peace agreement signed in Rome

An historic cease fire brokered by Pope Francis has been signed between the South Sudanese government and representatives from the opposition.

The Rome Agreement comes into effect today, in what is a major step towards the country finding peace.

Barnaba Marial Benjamin, the head of the government delegation, told Vatican Radio the Pope’s intervention had been decisive: “Here, today, we are responding to his humility, to his love for the people of South Sudan and tireless effort to appeal to us to bring peace and end this war.

“As you can hear from both sides we are responding to that appeal, to that love and to that humility which actually has made us ashamed: how can we not bring peace if that peace pushes us to?”

The agreement was brokered by the Saint Egidio Community in Rome, creating an atmosphere, Benjamin says, which allowed for the root causes of the conflict to be addressed.

Whilst negotiations are not over, the fact that both sides have agreed a cessation of hostilities, at least for the time being, is a hugely positive step forward.

Majority Christian South Sudan, the world’s youngest country, broke away from the Muslim-majority Republic of Sudan in 2011, largely over religious grievances.

However, since the country’s secession, it has been embroiled in internal ethnic conflict, fuelled by militias vying for control.

Pope Francis and the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, an Africa specialist, hosted a spiritual retreat at the Vatican in April, where the pontiff, now aged 82, broke with papal convention to kiss the feet of each of the leaders.

The official media outlet of the Holy See, Vatican News, said at the time the Pope’s “surprising and moving” gesture “cannot be understood except in the climate of reciprocal forgiveness that characterised the two days of retreat.”

Photo credit: AFP