Robbers broke into a cathedral in Wau on Sunday night and ransacked the church property looking for money and valuable items, according to Parish Priest Natale Emilio Gurcho.

The thieves destroyed the locks to the doors of St. Mary’s Cathedral on Sunday night as they apparently searched for money and valuable items.

Gurcho told UN Radio Miraya: “We found that the lock of the door was broken, in the sacristy a place where priest dress up for prayers, everything was disorganized. Dresses for prayers and candles were scattered.”

“In the other room of altar servants, all the cupboards were opened. A padlock for the upstairs door was also broken. Up to now nothing is taken, their aim was money or something, but they broke things and disorganized things inside the church.”

Meanwhile, the World Food Programme Country Director Eddie Rowe visited Wau where he made remarks about a WFP task force that is studying how to address a potential 'worst-case scenario' of economic collapse in urban areas of South Sudan.

“We are very much concerned. It is not just Wau, perhaps all the urban towns in South Sudan are at a situation where we might just have an economic collapse, which would mean the urban population that depends on markets, would not have purchasing power to even buy basic commodities, basic items for the household,” he said.

“Now WFP is not so involved in urban intervention, however we do have expertise and as I speak to you we have established a task force in Juba to look into how we can strategize in worst case scenario should this economy collapse how do we support.”