November 25, 2024—We are thrilled to share that Fr. Agbonkhianmeghe E. ("Bator") Orobator, S.J., dean of the Jesuit School of Theology at Santa Clara University (JST-SCU), has been awarded "The Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation" by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The Hubert Walter Award, established in 2016, honors leaders who exemplify reconciliation and cooperation across faith traditions, inspired by the legacy of Archbishop Hubert Walter (1193–1205). This prestigious award recognizes Fr. Orobator's "outstanding, Holy Spirit-inspired faithfulness, wisdom, and hope in the pursuit of ecumenical peace-making in South Sudan."

In 2019, at the invitation of senior Anglican and Roman Catholic leaders, Fr. Agbonkhianmeghe Orobator, S.J., (Bator), then President of the Jesuit Conference of Africa and Madagascar (JCAM) co-designed and animated a retreat for politicians from different sides of South Sudan’s civil war, who were unable to form a transitional government or implement a peace process to end a conflict that had claimed 400,000 lives 10.6% of which were children. Bator’s facilitation allowed the Holy Spirit to move through liturgy, praise, honest conversation, sharing of food, and silence. At one point during the retreat, the political leaders requested to sit together, alone, for the first time since violence had broken out. Held in the Pope’s own residence, Santa Marta, the retreat ended with the Pope kneeling to kiss the feet of each leader, imploring them to work together for peace. It formed such an impression on them and the South Sudanese people that they constantly reference it as a landmark in the pursuit of peace.

In his remarks at the April 2019 retreat, Fr. Orobator dwelt on the true meaning of a spiritual retreat - understood as a time "to meet God" or, even better, as a time “for God to meet us".The Lord, he explained, "will speak to us here", not by "cell phones", or "through Twitter or Facebook or Instagram", but in a retreat of healing, purification and mission as "artisans of peace". The invitation is to speak "to one another" from the depths of our hearts, enlightened by the Spirit, never forgetting the 13 million inhabitants of South Sudan, so that the peace agreement may be signed, above all, "in our hearts". In the second part, he extended his reflection to meditating on the South Sudanese national anthem, chanting, "South Sudan Oyee!". He urged those present to listen to the anthem during the retreat. In it, he explained, God is mentioned twice, at the beginning and at the end.

The people of South Sudan, said Fr. Orobator, are people "of faith", who with "one voice" pray, glorify and express trust in the Lord, in "peace and harmony". The country’s greatest resource and wealth, he added, is not in its land, water or oil: it is its people. He recalled the day of independence from Khartoum, on the 9th of July 2011: in all South Sudanese people, of every ethnicity, there was joy, euphoria, jubilation because the nation "was born", with hopes for peace, justice, prosperity, freedom, he said. Yet in the country today there are "7 million people", "almost half of the entire population", who are reduced to extreme hunger, schools are being abandoned because of inter-community violence and between clans; 4 million people have been forced to leave their homes, taking refuge in refugee camps.He concluded with an invitation to recover the "dream" of the South Sudan national anthem, going beyond “hostility” and “misunderstanding”, choosing between war and peace: choosing "life", for a reconciliation that is not only "personal", but "national".

Following the retreat he then continued to accompany and support the historic ecumenical peace-making as the Pope, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Moderator of the Church of Scotland prepared for a Pilgrimage of Peace to South Sudan in 2023. He consistently provided profound wisdom, deep political understanding, compelling spiritual encouragement, and unfailing hope that God’s grace would be known, all with priority given to supporting the Church in South Sudan.

Fr. Orobator has been involved with issues of peace, justice, and interfaith relations throughout his ministry and is widely respected as the immediate past President of the Jesuit Conference of Africa and Madagascar and current dean of the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University in Berkeley, California, USA. He is also an internationally acclaimed speaker, researcher and writer.

Join us in celebrating Fr. Orobator’s incredible contributions to building a more peaceful and united world.

See articles related to the South Sudan Peace process:

Spiritual retreat with South Sudan leaders in Vatican: time to choose life

Pope to Give Concluding Address at South Sudan Spiritual Retreat in Vatican

Text Adapted from: The Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University, press release.