The head of the Episcopal Church in South Sudan (ECSS), Dr. Justin Badi Arama, and the leader of the breakaway faction of ECCSS’ Jonglei Internal Province, Ruben Akurdit Ngong, have agreed to reconcile after falling out in 2020.
Over the weekend, Akurdit penned an apology to Archbishop Badi seeking reconciliation and an end to the crisis which started in August 2020 when Primate Badi defrocked Bishop Akurdit over alleged canonical disobedience. The latter condemned his defrocking and said it was nonprocedural.
Several attempts to have the ECSS crisis resolved, both by the office of the president and through a court of law, hit deadlocks.
Akurdit, who also heads the Diocese of Bor, confirmed Monday that he had written to Dr. Badi to apologize but declined to divulge details.
However, his spokesperson, Philip Maluak, told Radio Tamazuj that Akurdit agreed to apologize on condition that his defrocking is reversed.
“A meeting chaired by President Salva Kiir on Friday and which was attended by a mediation committee and Bishop Akurdit resolved that Akurdit apologize again because an earlier apology was rejected by Badi because Akurdit included root causes of the problem,” he explained. “So, Badi was served with an apology letter and that he agrees to be reinstated and the dioceses which he (Akurdit) created should be confirmed.”
The church official said Akurdit’s camp agreed to reconciliation because their demands were met and that it was a win-win approach.
“Archbishop Badi was the given resolution on Saturday. The resolutions were that Akurdit is reinstated, the dioceses are confirmed, and that the bishops Akurdit appointed are also confirmed,” Maluak said. “Those dioceses are Makuach, Anyidi, and Cuei-Kee. So, it is a win-win solution.”
Dr. Badi, on his part, said he accepted Akurdit’s apology and that he was ready for reconciliation.
“The apology letter has come to us in the church and we accepted it and we are ready to reinstate him if he comes because the church is a center of forgiveness and reconciliation,” he said. “But anything else circulating outside that is what we do not know yet. Anything resolved by elders or government is also yet to be verified with the church’s constitution, laws, and canons.”