His efforts resulted in a retreat that ended with Pope Francis kissing the feet of warring South Sudan leaders—a gesture that shocked the world in 2019.
Now the Jesuit priest got a prestigious peace award for his ground-breaking work.
Jesuit Father Agbonkhianmeghe E Orobator, the dean of the Jesuit School of Theology of California-based Santa Clara University has been awarded “The Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation” by the archbishop of Canterbury for his “outstanding contribution to ecumenical work,” honouring “his leadership of a 2019 retreat for politicians on opposing sides in South Sudan’s civil war.”
In an interview with, the Jesuit priest said that “the retreat was a one-day event designed to invite the warring political leaders into a space of shared prayer … dialogue, and reconciliation.”
“We were attempting to open the hearts of the political leaders to the actions of the Holy Spirit. I believe the experience helped to move them closer to the possibility of a peaceful and reconciled South Sudan,” he told OSV News.
On 12 April, 2019, Pope Francis repeatedly knelt and kissed the feet of South Sudan’s political leaders at the end of a spiritual retreat at the Vatican.
The action has resounded across Africa. South Sudan descended into a civil war in December 2013 following a political dispute between President Salva Kiir and Vice President Riek Machar.
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