Two-day peace conference of tribes in South Sudan

(Vatican Radio) A two-day peace conference in Juba, South Sudan, on Tuesday brought together representatives from all of South Sudan's 64 tribes ahead of a peace summit in Ethiopia which aims to end the young nation’s civil war.

 “My dear people, it is too long, it is too long that you are now not in peace," said Archbishop of Juba, Paulino Lukudu Loro, who opened the meeting. "This war must stop and if the war does not stop, we shall finish all ourselves, and we shall finished our entire nation."

South Sudan has seen sporadic fighting since December 2013 as government forces loyal to President Salva Kiir, a member of the dominant Dinka ethnic group, have tried to put down a rebellion led by former Vice President Riek Machar, who is of Nuer ethnicity. The fighting has often been along ethnic lines.

“From the background of our tribes...from the ancestors of this land, you are representing our ancestors, our parents, and all the people in South Sudan," Archbishop Lukudu said. "This is the best kind of the meeting that is needed for us to look into problems that we are in."