Bishop Oscar Cantu of Las Cruces, Chair the USCCB's Committee on International Justice an Peace, has issued a letter to Catholic Church leaders in South Sudan expressing solidarity for their continued struggles against violence in the country. The letter is addressed to Bishop Edouardo Hiiboro Kussala, President of the Sudan Catholic Bishops' Conference, and notes that it is in response to the South Sudanese Bishops' pastoral message from February 19th. Cantu writes, "We share your painful sense of tragedy that the civil war continues despite your multiple calls to stop the fighting. It is troubling that the violence is not just between armed groups, but is now increasingly targeting innocent, unarmed civilians. In addition, we note that people are attacked based on their ethnicity as a form of collective punishment. We agree that these trends must be studied and the perpetrators held to account for their crimes." See the full letter below.