By Laura Nunu
For the first time in the history of our time, the pope, his holiness Pope Francis, knelt down to kiss the feet of our so-called leaders. This sparked mixed reactions around the Globe. Some are skeptic; others are humbled while few like me are puzzled trying to get their head around it.
Why would the Pope do that? What message is he trying to
send us, South Sudanese, and the world at large? What could that really mean?
Yes, Pope Francis is known for his humility and devotion in
following Christ in his duty as the head of the Vatican City and the Holy See.
But for his holiness to knell down and kissed the feet of our so-called leaders
who had caused worst atrocities known to humanity is something someone like me cannot
take lightly. Who is this man and why did he do that?
In my opinion, the clue to this last question is in why Pope
chose to be called Pope Francis after Saint Francis of Assisi. If you know
Saint Francis of Assisi, then you might have come across his famous prayer,
which said:
A prayer of
St. Francis of Assisi:
“Lord, make me an instrument of your
peace; where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon;
where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair,
hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy.
“O Divine Master, grant that I may not so
much seek to be consoled, as to console; to be understood, as to understand; to
be loved, as to love; for it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning
that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are
born to eternal life.” Amen.
Comparing
this prayer with Pope speech on that day, then the message becomes clearer. I
quoted few paragraphs but the full speech is included at the end of this
article. Putting all this together, here is my take:
1. Pope
Francis has taken upon himself our sins pleading on our behalf to show God’s
Unconditional Love to sinners if they are willing to repent.
Let me
explain. Yes, I know Jesus is the only Son of God who took upon Himself the
sins of the world to save us all. So, there is no way a mortal human being like
the pope can do that to us again. But if we are all true followers of Jesus Christ
as we claimed to be, we won’t need people like the pope, bishops, priests and pastors
around the world teaching us about Christ. Christianity would have been living
the path of Christ in letter and spirits. The world would have been a better
place than it is now and evil would have been significantly reduced. But since
this is not the case, having people like the pope is still significant to our
world and bishops, priests and pastors are still needed more than ever. As
such, some people went as far as making business out of it taking the advantage
of our spiritual desperations.
To
understand the bold statement I made above, you must understand the role of the
pope and what he represents. The Vatican City and the Holy See in the
leadership of the Pope represents the highest moral authority of God
righteousness as in the Christian/Catholic faith in the world.
The
Catholic Church in the leadership of the Pope, like in other churches, the devoted
their entire life for generations to generations in the teachings and guidance
of the Holy Bible. But what makes Catholic Church unique from the other
Christian churches is the high level of organizations and hierarchy of power,
which of course, attracts a lot of critics. Even if most governments, especially
in the western world, avoid inclusions of religion in their ruling system due
to diversity of religions around the globe, morality in our ethics and jurisdiction
has its basis in spirituality. In our modern world, that basis can still be
traced back to the Judea Christian faith in which the Catholic Church is very
significant. This means, Christian moral authority in regards to none ethical
acts and injustice around the globe is equally very significant of which, the
Catholic Church in the leadership of the Pope is not an exception. As a result,
the initiative taken by the Archbishop of Canterbury, His Grace Justin Welby,
who conceived this initiative, with the former Moderator of the General
Assembly of the Church of Scotland, the Very Reverend John Chalmers is in
place. But then, why would Pope Francis kneel down to kiss the feet of our
so-called leaders?
Pope
Francis is a very unique Pope. He is known by his humility and his devotion to
serve the poor. He chose to be called Pope Francis because he wants to be seen
and remembered as someone who embodies the legacy of Saint Francis of Assisi.
He wants to be God’s true instrument of peace; wherethere is hatred, he will sow love; where there is injury, pardon;
where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is
despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy.
He did that by his significant gesture of showing God’s love and mercy to those
who had caused the worst atrocity known to humanity. He spent the first two paragraphs
of his speech speaking to them about peace, which is far beyond the peace they
signed that is at the verge of breaking down. The real peace of God, as Jesus
Christ showed it to His apostles and the world at large. He explained to them
that it is the peace that requires sacrifice and commitment from leaders of
nations and it is something they must pursue. He said:
“for peace is the fundamental condition for
ensuring the rights of each individual and the integral development of an
entire people. Jesus Christ, whom God the Father sent into the world as the
Prince of Peace, gave us the model to follow. Through his own sacrifice and
obedience, he bestowed his peace on the world.
That is
why, from the moment of his birth, the choir of angels sang the heavenly hymn:
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth
peace among those with whom he is pleased”, (Lk 2:14).
What joy it
would bring, were all the South Sudanese people to raise with one voice the
song that echoes that of the angels:
“O God, we praise and glorify you for your
grace on South Sudan, land of great abundance; uphold us in peace and harmony”
(first verse of the South Sudan national anthem).
How I wish
that the voices of the entire human family could join that heavenly choir in
singing glory to God and working for peace among all men and women! And what
that could mean to the people of South Sudan.
What Pope
Francis literally did was pleading to our so called leaders on behave of the
people of South Sudan in their yearning for real peace after long devastating sufferings.
He showed them God, in His Love and Mercy, gives second chance if they are willing
to take it. As a leader, he showed them the sacrifice, commitment and humility that
are requested of them and what it would mean to the entire people of South
Sudan and to the world at large. He literally and actually begged them to go
beyond themselves for the sake of the country and its people, to find that space
within them and bring real peace to the people of South Sudan. But did they
really get it?
2. Pope
Francis warned our leaders about the righteousness of God and His special place
for the poor and the oppressed.
Now, I am
not a theologian and I have not been to any Bible schools or courses other than
my upbringing in a Catholic family and schools during my early years of life.
That being said, after tasting the bitterness and sweetness of life like
anybody, I find myself getting back to the basis of life, in which my
Christian/Catholic faith is in its centre. Like some of you, I was struggling
with the idea: how can a God that is
Unconditionally Loving be also a God of Justice? The simple Sunday school
answer is: Because He gave us freedom of
choice in choosing and doing the right thing. As simple as it is, this is
the whole
code to the entire human ethics and morality!
Knowing our
limits as human beings to how far we can go in our roles as co-creators in the
entire universe of which we are part of and called our home is the key to all
the none ethical and injustice roles we play and can be accountable to. Putting
this in the context of South Sudan, it also means, killing fellow human beings
so that we cling to power as long as we want and wiping people away from their
ancestral areas so that we can occupy their villages in the name of ‘my tribe’
is inhumane and unethical, whether we are Christian or not, Atheist or Theist, Gnostic
or Agnostic.
And if you
are a true Christian, THIS IS THE LINE YOU CANNOT SIMPLY CROSS, because you
know better. Which imply, you are now playing god in deciding who lives and
dies, what tribes/people have rights to existence and not, and which place can
be occupied by who and how! Whether you are taken to ICC or not, God’s justice
will eventually prevail. Why, because you have crossed the line. God is
watching and hearing the cries of His people and He has special place for the
poor and the oppressed. How? Check the Holy Bible!
Pope
Francis made this clear to our leaders when he talked of “the gaze of God and the gaze of the people”.
He highlighted
the core points in the whole dichotomy of Unconditional Love and Justice.
God’s Unconditional Love is real and abundant to everyone who is willing to
receive it. It is the LOVE that binds everything together and keeps it as a whole,
in a perfect harmony with each other. You can either choose to be part of it or
not. In choosing to be part of it, it requires moving away from your personal
egos of pride, greed or lust to embrace the whole. And if you choose not to be
part of it, you automatically choose to be opposite to it. Which means, putting
yourself into the justice that the whole requires. This is my understanding of these
deep meanings.
Another part of this deep understanding is
knowing our responsibilities. My understanding of the phrase “God
created us in His image” means God grants us the responsibility of being co-creators
in His universe. Because, as far as I am concerned, we are the only race/animal
kingdoms with the enormous responsibilities of recreating or destroying this
beautiful universe with our diverse God given talents. If we choose to recreate
it with God’s inspirational ideas, it benefits the whole, but if we choose to only
satisfy our personal egos of pride, greed, lust, lies or hypocrisy, it destroys
the whole. As such, we are not aimless collection of dusts; we are co-creators
of the entire universe with diverse/specific roles to fulfil. That equally
means, we are responsible in our entire God’s given talents and duties to do
the right thing or face justices. Therefore, we shall be held accountable to
our individual’s as well as our collective responsibilities, period.
3. What
does all this mean?
When Papa
Francis spoke of the gaze of the people, he differentiated it from the gaze of
God. He said, “God’s gaze is especially
directed to you; it is a look that offers you peace”. This means, our
relationship with our God is indeed personal as well as intimate.
And he
continued saying: “Yet there is another
gaze directed to you: is the gaze of your people, and it expresses their ardent
desire for justice, reconciliation and peace. At this moment, I want to assure
all your fellow citizens of my spiritual closeness, especially the refugees and
the sick, who have remained in the country with great expectations and with
bated breath, awaiting the outcome of this historic day. I am certain that they
are accompanying this meeting with great hope and fervent prayer. Noah waited
for the dove to bring him an olive branch to show the end of the flood and the
beginning of a new era of peace between God and man (cf. Gen 8:11). In the same
way, your people are awaiting your return to your country, the reconciliation
of all its members, and a new era of peace and prosperity for all.
As the
retreat concludes, reflecting on this important event and asking the question:
‘what does all this mean?’ depends on
who you are asking. For some people, it means absolutely nothing. It has no
impact on them and it is not of any significance to their life. Some critics
went as far as giving their racial and superiority/inferiority complex views
about it.
But to the
ordinary citizens of South Sudan, who are in the depth of suffering grinding
their teeth in pain, we are deeply grateful for his holiness, Papa Francis, in
acknowledging our pain and pleading on our behalf for real peace to come to
South Sudan. We are equally grateful for his holiness in hearing our cries and
holding us in his prayers assuring us of God’s Righteousness. Last but not
least, we are indeed very grateful for his holiness and his team in organizing
this historic event and renewing our faith and showing us God’s Love and Grace
that is real and abundance to all of us, only if we are willing to take it.
What a timing retreat to give us hope when all hope is gone, to remember us,
when everyone seems to forget about us, to bring us close to God when God seems
to be very far away. Thank you papa Francis and thank you Archbishop of
Canterbury, His Grace Justin Welby, who conceived this initiative, and thank
you to the former Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland,
the Very Reverend John Chalmers and thank you to all the retreat team both
locally and internationally. May God bless each and every one of you abundantly
and may His wisdom and guidance shine through all of you, Amen.
And to
those critics I will say, in a moral world such as ours, you cannot escape
justice. Whether you like it or not, there is no moral justice above God’s Righteousness.
Know this and you will be fine.
4. What
is the way forward?
If you are
like me, who is deeply touched by this retreat, you will expect radical changes
even if not immediately. But what happened next, only two weeks after the
event, is enough to tell you where we are heading.
First, the former
vice president, Dr. Riek Machar appealed for the Khartoum peace agreement to be
extended by six months because obviously, they are behind the schedule with
critical steps not being put into place. You would expect this could be an
opportunity for making this fake peace real and inclusive putting people of
South Sudan in the centre of it. But president Kirr and his government refused,
even if they were the very people crying for lack of funds to implement the
peace agreement. And they declared to form unity government on the 12th
May with or without Dr. Machar. Which makes me ask: what is the definition of this unity government since Dr. Riek is the
main signatory to this agreement? After facing the harsh reality, they
realized extension is inevitable. But we are yet to hear what that could
exactly mean?
Second, president
Kirr never made any public statement about the retreat and continue with
business as usual signing eight million contracts with UAE for housemaids,
which angered many citizens.
Third,
Reuter’s world news published an article on 29 April saying that South Sudan
has hired U.S lobbyists to help it reverse U.S. sanctions and stop the
establishment of the court meant to prosecute war crimes. Under the contract,
signed on April 2 and published on the U.S. Justice Department website, South
Sudan’s government agreed to pay California-based Gainful Solutions $3.7
million over two years.
Last but
not least, radiotamzuj.org on 1st May published ‘the UN expert report released on April, 30
2019 by the UN Panel of Experts on South Sudan mandated by the UN Security
Council in 2018 confirming Aggrey Idri and Dong Samuel Luak were executed by
Internal Security Bureau agents at the Luri facility on 30 January 2017, on
orders from the commander of the National Security Service training and
detention facilities in Luri, the commander of the National Security Service
Central Division and, ultimately, Lieutenant General Akol Koor Kuc ‘
And the
most annoying news in all of this is the minister of information Michael
Makuei, denied this very truth
saying that they are not involved and had nothing to do with the death of these
two gentlemen. Now, my question is the title of this article: Do we really get
it?
In
conclusion, I would like to say that this war has gone beyond the borders of
South Sudan. Indeed, we are not entity of our own, living in a separate world.
We are citizens of the world. We are piece and parcel of global diversity
united in our humanity. And that humanity exists on the moral values of
respect, care and justice. As creations of the Same One God, who created all of
us in His own image, we have the right to exist whether we are black, white,
yellow, purple and all the colours we are yet to see of human beings. In this same
colourful diversity is also our diverse culture, which has created more meanings
in our way of interactions and relations with each other. No tribe is above any
tribe and no culture is above any culture. Every single tribe and culture has
the rights to exist and co-exist as long as it is in line with the moral basics
of global human values of respect, care and justice, period.
As soon as
there is respect for existence or co-existence, there is equally a sense of
care and responsibility for each other in which justice dwells. For none of
these values exists in isolation, they co-exist in relations to each other
exchanging roles. That is why we are ‘our
brothers keepers’.
To Salva
Kirr and his cohorts, thank you for awakening the truth in us. Without the cruel
pains and sufferings you have caused us, we would still be living in denial
thinking life is good and rosy. We would have forgotten our responsibilities of
being co-creators in a moral world that requests respect, care and justices, especially
after those long-sufferings. But again, you brought us face to face with the
truth, questioning our sufferings as well, as our existence once more. Asking
God the same questions we had been asking all a long: why God? What have we done to deserve this? Why do we need to undergo
this cruelty again?
We
entrusted you with our lives and whole existence, thinking that this is all
about us. We though that irrespective of our cultural differences in our tribes,
since we suffered together, bled together and even died together, we would
arise above it all and embrace ourselves as brothers and sisters of a country,
which we could finally call our own. Little did we know that we are cheated of
our vote? Little did we know that we
would vote for another slavery, this time, under one of our own. Little did we
know that ‘the self determination’ that was brought to us in a golden plate had
a hidden nightmare agenda, little did we know that this whole struggle had
nothing to do with us but with your dream of a tribal kingdom! Irrespective of
all this, we would not regret a bit of it and we will not lament over a spill
milk! It was a legitimate decision and we did the right thing.
Now that this has become all about you and your
tribe, who scooped the ownership of our collective liberation struggles and the
country we all equally voted for, we are going to liberate our land and
ourselves from you. One thing that escapes your short memory is the resilience
of the South Sudanese people. We had done it with Egypt, we did it with Sudan
and we shall do it with you.
You are experts on ‘divide and rule tactics’. You will divide and unite us at will as
long as it serves you well. But this time, the game is still the same but there
is change of rules, which is ‘ on our own
terms’. Since you have divided us along tribal lines, so shall it be! The
only thing that can bring us together is our unity in our humanity, nothing
less and nothing more. You cannot put gun on our heads and say: UNITE! You
cannot force us to any short-cut unity under any fake peace. Unity is the
essence of which we are made. We are created by ONE God who created all of us
in His own image, as diverse as we are. We are the global diversity of unity in
our humanity based on respect, care and justice. And Peace is who we really
are. For the truth Peace of God exist in each and every one of us. We only need
to find a place for it in our lives. You don’t preach to us peace, we will know
it if it is there or not. It is in the reflections of our common moral values
in our integrations and interrelationships with each other. Peace is not what
you said, it is what you do and in so doing: ‘they shall be known by their deeds’ If you want peace, work for
justice as Emmanuel kembe said in one of his songs.
By Laura
Nunu
You can
reached her at lauranunu@gmail.com
NADAFA 