Outrage after nuns assaulted on South Sudan highway

In 2021, two nuns were killed on the same highway, while the latest attack came after the reported robbing of a priest in the Diocese of Torit and warnings that security has all but collapsed.

Two Catholic nuns in South Sudan were attacked and robbed amid a worsening security situation across the country.

According to church officials, on 30 August a vehicle carrying the two sisters of the Order of Discalced Carmelites from the city of Torit, in the south of the country, to the capital Juba was attacked by as yet unidentified assailants. Other passengers were also assaulted and robbed.

The latest attack on pastoral workers in South Sudan comes amid ongoing concerns about religious violence and it came after a previous killing of nuns on the same highway, officials said.

“All their things were looted and they were dragged to the bush. It was all the passengers. And a sister was hit and injured. And she was bleeding. That was what happened,” said the Bishop of Torit Emmanuel Bernardino Lowi Napeta.

In 2021, two nuns were killed on the same highway, while the latest attack came after the reported robbing of a Catholic priest in the same diocese and warnings that security has all but collapsed.

“I really condemn this situation as strongly as possible,” Bishop Napeta told Radio Emmanuel, a local Catholic radio station, maintaining that “the security of our nation and the world depends on us”.

The bishop also urged authorities to examine and address the root causes of insecurity in the world’s youngest nation.

“We need to think about the common good of all people … We need to come out of our comfort zone to think of these poor people,” he said.

“Maybe God is talking to us … that we need to come out of our routine. We need to think about how to help people, first of all to eat. Our major problem now is food.”

Since winning independence in 2011, South Sudan has suffered from civil war and persistent political violence, worsening poverty and food insecurity.

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