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Volume 25 No. 2 | Winter 2015
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SVD takes up new Mission in South Sudan
“We want to be close to people, particularly the poor”
In an exclusive interview with Society Matters to mark the
Year of Consecrated Life, the SVD Superior General, Fr
Heinz Kuluke, explains why the Divine Word Missionaries
continue to move into new missionary areas around the
world, including into South Sudan, a brand new nation with
a turbulent past and a challenging future.
“To come to the aid of Africa is probably one of the biggest
challenges of the human family at this point in history.”
So says Fr Heinz Kuluke, SVD Superior-General, of the
Divine Word Missionaries’ decision to open up a new
mission in the Republic of South Sudan in 2012.
“The bad news about this beautiful continent each day
seems to have no end,” Fr Heinz says. “As SVDs we have
taken responsibility for people in very difficult situations in
Africa in countries such as Kenya, Mozambique and more
recently, Chad and South Sudan. Another addition this year
will be Liberia.
“Civil wars have left a misery beyond description and
traumatised people who need a big human heart in
order to get back on their feet. The commitment of our
missionaries, our friends in Australia and worldwide, make
this greater involvement possible. For this, we and also the
people we serve, are very grateful.”
South Sudan is the newest nation on earth, having gained
independence from its northern neighbour, the Republic
of Sudan, in 2011 after many years of civil war. Most of the
population of South Sudan is Christian.
The history of civil war and dislocation has left the young
nation with many challenges, including a very insecure
economy, violence and a traumatised population.
“South Sudan, because of the civil war there for more than
two decades, has been on the radar of the SVD concerns
for many years,” Fr Heinz says.
“Refugees have moved to neighbouring countries where
SVDs have been working already and have provided a first
contact with people from South Sudan. The persistency of
the bishop in asking for help and the SVD concern about
the people came together and led to a definite decision
to join the Holy Spirit Sisters (SSpS) and to start our own
mission in South Sudan.”
Three pioneering missionaries were assigned to begin the
SVD mission in South Sudan. They are Fr Francis Joseph
Naduviledath from India (Mission Superior), Fr Bernard
Ilunga Wa from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Br
Vinsensius Knaofmone from Indonesia.
They arrived in South Sudan in April 2012, settling first at
Yei after finding that their housing of traditional tukuls, or
huts, in nearby Lainya, was still under construction by the
local people.
“On our arrival in Yei, we were told that the tukuls in
Lainya would be ready in two weeks’ time,” says Fr Francis
Joseph in a report. “However, after a week, because of the
rains and weak construction, two out of the three tukuls
collapsed and the community had to start all over again.
Meanwhile, we continued to stay with our sisters as well as
to learn a little bit of spoken Arabic.”
The three missionaries eventually moved into their tukuls
in Lainya at the end of June 2012 and began visiting the
chapels under their care.
“Many of these chapels are more than 50 or 100km away
from the parish centre, and were last visited by a priest
more than three or four years ago, with some of them last