Archbishop Paulino Lukudu Loro of Juba told a crowd of thousands of South Sudanese at independence day celebrations yesterday that the country has never before seen atrocities on such a scale, telling the people that it is a day of mourning and sorrow.

The bishop condemned the ongoing civil war saying it is 'evil'.

“Thousands of our people have been killed... the party which led us to independence has split into a meaningless power struggle. Our soldiers are now killing one another and killing innocent civilians,” he said.

“The infastructure of our country is being systematically destroyed. We are seeing atrocities against human life and dignity on a scale which we have never seen before. The rule of law is all but getting disappearing. Our youth are being corrupted by revenge and violence.”

“Our value systems are being degraded. Ethnic division is replacing our desire for unity as South Sudanese.”

The bishop said that South Sudanese cannot blame anybody but themselves. He added, “My brothers and sisters, evil has overtaken our nation. Evil has overtaken our country, this war is evil. It has no moral justification whatsoever. The behavior of many of our people, our leaders, our soldiers, our national security organs, our cattle camp youths and our politicians is not correct.”

“The church leaders have tried to advise our leaders and our people but our advice has been ignored. Now is the time for lamentation and mourning, for prayer and fasting, for sorrow and repentence.”

However, the bishop urged the South Sudanese people to hope in God. “We place our hope not in the actions of political or military leaders but in God working through the ordinary people of our country. If the people are empowered for peace, if the young men refuse to take up arms against each other, if the women refuse to support their men in violence, this evil war can be stopped.”