The new Cardinal of the Catholic Church in South Sudan, Stephen Ameyu Martin Mulla, on Monday called on South Sudanese to seek a path of peace.

His Eminence made the call on Monday upon his arrival from Rome, Italy, where he was installed as cardinal with 20 others at the 30 September Consistory.

He was received at Juba International Airport by the Vice President for Economic Cluster, Dr. James Wani Igga, His Eminence, Emeritus Cardinal Gabriel Zubeir Wako, Church members, and South Sudanese communities.

Speaking at Juba International Airport, Cardinal Ameyu urged leaders to work for genuine peace.

“Let us work for peace and not the peace of silencing of guns but a peace of Christ that puts each one of us together and enables us to say you are my brother and to say to my sister and that is because we have one father that is God,” he said.

The first-ever South Sudanese Cardinal also called on the country to open a new page for peace to prevail.

“God has given us this nation so that we can also be people who have a history, a history that has been spent in bloodshed but now God is opening for us a new page,” Ameyu said.

Pope Francis installed Archbishop Stephen Ameyu Martin Mulla as the first Cardinal of the Catholic Church in South Sudan on 30 September at the Vatican City. He now joins a group of 137 cardinals eligible to elect a new Pope.

For his part, Dr. James Wani Igga reiterated the government’s commitment to stand with the church to bring peace and harmony among the citizens.

“We are all very happy to receive our cardinal and as South Sudanese, we are very proud to have cardinal for the first time,” he said. “This is not something easy because Cardinal Gabriel Zubeir Wako is for Sudan but since the creation and independence of South Sudan, this is the first time to have a cardinal.”