The process of nation building that has characterized the recent history of South Sudan is based on several symbolic aspects, of which the religious factor is only one of many. However, religion is a more strategic component because during the second civil war, it sustained the activism of several Christian missions, including the powerful American evangelical organization Samaritan’s Purse, headed by Franklin Graham, [1]  The son of evangelist Billy Graham (see Fath 2002),…[1] who during an evangelization “festival” that took place in Juba on October 26 and 27, 2012, explicitly linked independence, nation building, and Christian identity. [2]  This meeting, which was attended and studied on site,…[2] Yet the mark of American evangelism on South Sudanese society is not the whole story as regards the Christian impact of the Western powers on the newly created state. Despite it now being regarded as secular, Europe, starting with the United Kingdom, continues to play a role as the former British occupying power maintains influential networks through the Anglican Communion.

2

In the long history of the South Sudanese provinces, other religious players have left a legacy, starting with Italy, which provided priests for the Comboni Mission. Although the history of this mission has not yet been fully written, [3]  No complete monograph on the Comboni Mission, which…[3] Comboni missionaries played a vital role under difficult conditions in bringing Christianity to the area, building dozens of large Catholic houses of worship, most of which are still standing, and contributing to the establishment of Catholicism in South Sudan, which remains as strong as ever. What was France’s role within the Catholic sphere of influence? The aim of this study is to examine the example of Bahr el-Ghazal and the city of Wau (capital of Western Bahr el-Ghazal) through the little-known work of Father Hubert Barbier.

3

The context of the Marchand Mission (see below), which gave rise to the development of Wau at the end of the nineteenth century, set the stage for the establishment of long-term French influence. At the end of the first Sudanese civil war, the white Father Hubert Barbier built a medical center in Wau that was to become very important for the future of the region as even the deadly shocks of the second Sudanese civil war did not prevent the work of the center from enduring as part of the international activism of Father Barbier in support of the Christian cause in South Sudan.

France in Wau: The Legacy of the Marchand Mission

4

Today, the historiography of the Congo-Nile mission known as the “Marchand Mission” (1896–1899) has been expanded by major works, [4]  Some of these recent works are comprehensive, including…[4] which relay witness accounts. [5]  See for example Baratier (1925) and Landeroin (199…[5] These reports shed light not only on the well-known Fachoda affair, which came to an end after cigars and brandy were exchanged between Lord Kitchener and Captain Jean-Baptiste Marchand (1863–1934) [6]  “Over brandy and cigars, Kitchener and Marchand agreed,…[6]  with a French retreat in the face of British Imperial ambitions on the Upper Nile. It also helped greatly to refine the French impact over 6,000 km of land stretching from west to east. Far from leaving a temporary French footprint in South Sudan, Fachoda appears like the tail end of a comet whose influence was in reality deeper than might appear.

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