Cleric demands resignation of feuding ECSS archbishops
The bishop of Malek Diocese, Peter Joh Mayom, has appealed to the defrocked Archbishop of Jonglei Internal Province, Reuben Akurdid Ngong Akurdid, and the ECSS backed Archbishop of Jonglei Internal Province, Moses Anur Ayom, to step down to reconcile the congregations.
Bishop Joh said the church cannot solve the matter alone and that the individuals involved in the crisis have to step down instead of dividing the Bor community.
He said Anur should return to Athooc Diocese and Akurdid to return to Bor Diocese.
“If this case of Bor is to be solved, it is for us to solve because the church will not handle it. Based on the way it has been handled, this case will go on for years that Badi will be in leadership, and this is what we don’t want, ” Joh said.
“I want Anur to step down as Archbishop. I want him to write a resignation letter and go back to the diocese of Athooc so that we can come and settle our issues ourselves. “The primate should not continue with the consecration of the bishop of Athooc until this case is solved,” he suggested.
The cleric warned against continued wrangles over the church seat, saying the issue should be left in the hands of the office of the primate to address it.
“Let him go back to the diocese of Athooc and Akurdid retire and go back to the diocese of Bor. I will support that, but without that, I wash my hands. If he wants the people of Bor to be divided, let him cling to that offer, and it is not a spiritual offer,” bishop Joh said.
No community-led dialogue
The Episcopal Church of South Sudan, led by Primate Justin Badi Arama, last week trashed the community-led dialogue with the defrocked Archbishop Reuben Akurdid Ngong.
The development came after the acting governor of Jonglei State, Tuong Majok Deng, expelled the two archbishops, Reuben Akurdid Ngong Akurdid and Moses Anur Ayom.
The state minister of information, Veronicah Williams, said they expelled the two archbishops to reduce tension and ensure peace prevails.
“We wrote this letter so that the two bishops can leave the state because we don’t want conflict in our state. It looks very bad for chaos to be seen in the church like this. So they have to go to Juba to solve their differences there,” Veronica said.
The ECSS communication officer, Manyang Gabriel Kon, said they would not entertain community-led dialogue to solve church conflict and, therefore, the dispute should be left in the hands of the church.
“We haven’t heard anything like this before, and we’re not going to encourage it. Our bishops came to Juba because they did not want the tension to escalate. But we are going to arrange it again when they go back. “Church disputes cannot be settled by the community,” he said.
Philip Maluak Deng, the spokesman for defrocked Archbishop Reuben Akurdid Ngong Akurdid, accused Primate Badi of ordering Anur and the two other bishops to sneak into the territory of the bishop of the Makuac Diocese.
“He came here purposely on the call of the community and the state government so that he could come and listen to the problem of these three bishops who came to Bor town and settled in the territory of Makuach Diocese to provoke the shooting. There was tension. That’s why he came here so that the case could be settled here,” Maluak said.
“Those bishops who went to Bor have their respective dioceses, and there is order number one, issued during the time of Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul, that any person cannot operate in different dioceses. They settled under the Diocese of Makuach and there is someone in charge of that diocese.”
