In his 2025 Christmas message, Cardinal Stephen Ameyu Martin Mulla calls South Sudanese to reflect on Jesus as the Prince of Peace amid violence and hardship
Newsroom (23/12/2025 Gaudium Press ) Stephen Cardinal Ameyu Martin Mulla, Archbishop of Juba, has issued a poignant 2025 Christmas message urging the people of South Sudan to contemplate Jesus Christ as the “Prince of Peace,” who is present in their midst and responsive to the nation’s deep yearning for reconciliation.
Addressed to “Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Clergy, Religious, and all People of Good Will,” the two-page message, shared with ACI Africa on December 22, roots hope in faith, scripture, and the harsh realities facing the world’s youngest nation.
Under the subheading “The Cry of Our Land: A People Yearning for Peace,” Cardinal Ameyu frames Christmas as God’s direct intervention in human suffering rather than a remote celebration. Invoking “Grace and peace… from our Lord Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh,” he draws believers into the mystery of the Incarnation, describing Christ as coming “not as a distant king, but as the suffering Servant born in a manger.”
Drawing on the Prophet Isaiah’s words—“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace”—the cardinal proclaims that “the Prince of Peace has come.” In a country plagued by recurring violence and displacement, this announcement serves as a vital lifeline, he emphasizes.
The archbishop situates the Christmas story against the “darkness” enveloping South Sudan. Referencing the Gospel of John, he declares that “the true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world,” a light that scatters darkness and calls people to “break forth together into singing.”
Christmas, Cardinal Ameyu insists, is no mere sentimental optimism but a bold assertion that God enters history at its most painful points. “The Good News of peace breaks through,” he writes, citing Isaiah’s vision that “all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.” This salvation is realized in the Child of Bethlehem, whose birth replaces “the clash of arms with the song of angels: Gloria in excelsis Deo et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis.”
Jesus comes especially “to the poor, the displaced, the war-weary—precisely those who know suffering most acutely,” the cardinal notes.
Turning to the situation on the ground, Cardinal Ameyu, who has led the Archdiocese of Juba since March 2020 and serves as President of the Sudan/South Sudan Catholic Bishops’ Conference since January 2024, describes a nation “scarred by cycles of violence, economic hardship, and humanitarian crises.”
He echoes his fellow bishops’ condemnation of widespread violence tied to power struggles within the national government. The consequences include mass displacement, rampant inflation, pervasive insecurity, destroyed hospitals, and interrupted education as “schools turned to rubble.”
The ongoing war in neighboring Sudan—a conflict between rival generals—has further burdened South Sudan’s limited resources, the cardinal laments.
Yet the Church stands resolutely for peace, recalling St. John Paul II’s plea to “put aside the arms of war and pursue the path of peace.” Cardinal Ameyu highlights ongoing efforts by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference and the South Sudan Council of Churches to condemn violence and facilitate dialogue from national halls to village level.
Proclaiming Christ as “the Light in Our Darkness,” he affirms that the Incarnation shows God “did not remain aloof but ‘pitched his tent among us,’ sharing our poverty to redeem it.” In Jesus, the path forward is marked by “forgiveness over vengeance, dialogue over division, service over self-interest.”
South Sudanese Christianity, he adds, has proven a “force for peace” through ecumenical collaboration and service to the marginalized.
The cardinal calls on national leaders to honor the 2018 Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan, advancing constitutional reforms, disarmament, and transparent elections. He urges the international community to maintain humanitarian aid, press for dialogue, and support civilians’ non-violent aspirations.
To ordinary faithful, he extends an invitation to become messengers of peace in homes, parishes, and markets. Quoting the Psalmist—“There is posterity for the man of peace”—he offers concrete exhortations: welcoming refugees, youth renouncing violence, intensified Church prayer and reconciliation initiatives, and broader support for humanitarian and justice efforts.
He reminds the government led by President Salva Kiir Mayardit that “the roots of war lie in hearts which refuse to submit… to the divine will.”
Concluding in prayer and adoration of “the Infant in the manger,” Cardinal Ameyu asks that God’s “holy arm console widows and orphans, heal the wounded, and unite our tribes in one body.”
His 2025 Christmas message resonates with steadfast assurance: the Prince of Peace has arrived, and His light “shines in the darkness that cannot overcome Him.”
- Raju Hasmukh with files from ACI Africa
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