SW News: South Sudanese Catholic Church leaders are urging residents to pray for an end to the violence that has swept neighboring Sudan since April 15, when the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) began an armed confrontation.

Archbishop Stephen Ameyu Martin of the Diocese of Juba asked for prayers for Sudanese clergy in the midst of upheaval, emphasizing the need to "maintain peace" and praying for their Sudanese brothers and sisters.

Furthermore, the Jesuit Network for Justice and Ecology in Africa (JENA) has issued an appeal for "prayer and action" to put an end to the bloodshed. According to Fr. Charles Chilufya, executive director of JENA, prayer is all-powerful and an expression of their yearning for God's assistance; thus, it should be used to soothe everyone's emotions. Furthermore, the Jesuit of Zambian background believes that the country's political and economic difficulties, which have led to the violence, must be addressed.

Meanwhile, Fr. Zobinou Komlan Hubert, parish priest of St. Joseph Kalakla in the Catholic Archdiocese of Khartoum, South Sudan's capital, highlighted some of the challenges brought about by the ongoing conflict.

According to a Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB) member, the greatest obstacle for those who have escaped and are waiting abroad, as well as those who have stayed in Khartoum, is a shortage of food, water, and power, and that combat is unforeseeable.

The UNHCR anticipates that 815,000 people will flee Sudan if the crisis continues. This number comprises 580,000 Sudanese refugees as well as 235,000 refugees from South Sudan, Ethiopia, and Chad who fled to Sudan for protection but are now stranded.