Juba — Christians of different churches and traditions gathered in Juba for an ecumenical prayer for peace on Sunday.

Representatives from Catholic, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Evangelical and African Independent Churches prayed together for peace at All Saints Cathedral.

Bakhita Radio, a Catholic station in Juba, reported that the prayer service, nearly marred by heavy rain, was conducted by the evangelical preacher, Christopher Surur.

The facilitator of the Sudan Council of Churches, Tiberius Lecca, said in the welcoming speech that during the war the churches used to gather together every two or three months to pray for peace.

"During the peace we have taken a long time without the ecumenical prayers", Lecca lamented. "There are things that are not alright in our country. Let us present them to God that he may help us," he added.

The sermon was delivered by the Catholic Archbishop of Juba, Paolino Lukudu Loro. "It is more difficult to rebuild than to destroy, and we prayed that the beginning of peace should be achieved. That has been achieved. Now we need to rebuild this peace", he said.

"It seems we have not prayed enough. We need to encourage our communities, our different groups and our parishes and our churches really to pray for peace; to pray for the CPA [Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended the war in 2005]; to pray for the Sudan so that we have that necessary peace."

Archbishop Paolino also said that the Christians should work for unity "to renew our unity in faith in Jesus Christ."

Archbishop Lukudu condoled with the families of three police officers slain in Yambio on November 4 by suspected members of the Joint Integrated Units, the military force made up of soldiers from the North and the South of Sudan.

"The incident that happened in Yambio last Sunday was the work of the Evil One. We regret it; we are sorry about that; we as a body of the people of God in Juba really want to offer solace to the families, the children, the relatives of those brothers of ours who lost their lives on duty", the archbishop said.

Archbishop Paolino suggested that the Sudan Council of Churches organized a youth day of prayer for peace.

According to Bakhita Radio, violent incidents such as those recalled in the ecumenical prayer service are frequent in Southern Sudan. Political and religious authorities have repeatedly acknowledged the fragility of the peace in Sudan, raising serious concerns that the enemies of peace are many.