Peter Kodwo Turkson, an envoy of the Roman Catholic Church to South Sudan, called on South Sudanese to have hope and work hard to achieve peace. He was speaking upon his departure Sunday after a week-long trip to the country.

Turkson, who is a cardinal of the church and President of the Pontifical Council for Peace and Justice, said South Sudanese leaders should do everything to sustain the hope of nation-building by recognizing the ideas and aspirations of the people.

“We need to be hopeful, and being hopeful and patient means that hopefully also the leaders will have a certain amount of respect for the basic dignities of people and the rights of people,” he said, as quoted by the Catholic Radio Network.

Cardinal Peter called on the government to have an ear for all things for the people because they want to live happily, peacefully with their dignity fully respected, the report added.

The church leader during his visit to Juba met President Salva Kiir and other top government officials, as well as Catholic and Episcopal bishops. He also addressed congregations of the Christians and delivered a message of peace from the Vatican.

During the opening of the regular cabinet sitting on Friday, Turkson opened the meeting with a prayer of peace. An official speaking after the meeting disclosed that the cardinal preached prayerfulness and gave all members of the cabinet a prayer card, the Catholic Radio Network reported.

Photo: Cardinal Peter Turkson (Gregorio Borgia/AP)