Juba, South Sudan, Mar 3, 2019 / 17:11 pm
A peace agreement between the South Sudanese government and opposition leaders is bound to fail, because root problems have not been addressed, warned Catholic bishops in the country.
A pastoral letter was released by the bishops after their meeting in Juba from Feb. 26-28. The Church leaders voiced concern that government officials do not have the resolve to observe the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan.
"We fear that this peace agreement is fatally flawed in itself and cannot bring true peace; we fear also that the current leadership does not have the will to implement peace," the letter said, according to the Tablet.
Shortly after South Sudan became an independent country in 2011, it was launched into a five-year civil war, which killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced millions more. The fighting has primarily taken place between those forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and rebel groups led by Riek Machar, the former vice president.