FILE: The Auxiliary Bishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Juba, Santo Loku Pio, during the Requiem Mass on Saturday, January 3, 2026, at St. Theresa’s Cathedral in Kator - Credit: Eye Radio

Auxiliary Bishop Santo Laku Pio of the Catholic Archdiocese of Juba stated on Sunday that it is unjust for citizens to face non-payment of wages, inflation, and violence for crimes they did not commit.

Auxiliary Bishop Santo Laku Pio of the Catholic Archdiocese of Juba spoke on Sunday, June 21, 2026, during the opening of an orphanage at Holy Cross Parish in Kondokoro, Juba.

He described the plight of ordinary people as an injustice, pointing out that citizens are being subjected to hunger, non-payment of salaries, banking failures, and rural violence for “a crime they have never committed.”

Addressing the event, Bishop Laku stated that citizens face non-payment of wages, banking restrictions, and violence.

“It is unjust that our people are subjected to degradation, to suffering, to death, for a crime they have never committed. For a crime they have never committed. You suffer hunger for reasons that are not even clear,” Bishop Laku stated.

“You work; you are not paid,” Bishop Laku said. “You are paid, you put your money in the bank, the money doesn’t come out… You go to the village, you are killed. You want to go and cultivate, you are killed.”

The cleric stated that justice, peace, honesty, and love are fading while cruelty and brutality take root, citing massacres in Abiemnhom and other locations. He questioned the actions of the military regarding liberation.

“This is what the SPLA are saying: We liberated you so we have to kill you,” Bishop Laku said. “You liberated me so that I live, so that I eat, so that I have food… so that I rise to new life… improve roads, improve hospitals. This is true liberation, not the robbery going on today. You did not liberate us, you liberated yourself because you have become a thief… a robber… a killer… a destroyer.”

The cleric compared the situation of the population to the biblical accounts of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, stating that leaders target civilian areas, villages, schools, and hospitals. He called on citizens to speak out and stressed that leadership, parental care, and responsibility require humility.

“We are in an era where leaders are happy when they kill people, when they destroy villages, when they destroy the infrastructures,” Bishop Laku stated. “They are happy when they destroy the schools.”

He concluded his address by stating that sacrifices are required from the community to endure the current conditions.