Bishop Erkolano Lodu Tombe of Yei, South Sudan, has denounced the
“deafening silence of the media” and the “indifferent gaze of the
international community” in the face of continuing slaughter in the
young African country.In an interview with the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, Bishop Tombe said that the world has ignored the massacres that have cost hundreds of lives in his diocese.
The bloodshed has caused residents to live in fear, he said. Roads are unsafe, people living in the countryside cannot travel to the city and farmers are afraid to work their fields.
The violence—spawned by a lingering conflict between political leaders—has crippled the region, the bishop reported. Food and medicine are in short supply, and humanitarian aid cannot reach the villages most in need. The people of the region will continue to rely on relief supplies for at least a year, he said, since farmers have not been able to prepare crops.
In the Yei diocese, Bishop Tombe said, “unfortunately only two parishes are functioning.” In other parishes, priests are unable to provide pastoral care because of constant violence.