Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Rome (Fides Service)- “Peace brings new challenges to the Church in Sudan” missionaries with years of experience in this country, told Fides. “If all goes well in a few months the government and separatists will sign an agreement to put an end to a war which lasted more than 20 years. The return of peace will mean the return of thousands, perhaps millions of refugees. Humanitarian organisations foresee an exodus of biblical proportions. On their return these people will find nothing, war destroyed everything, war stopped development in the south pushing the region back hundreds of years. Swift action from the international community is needed to ensure these people a dignified return. The local Catholic Church, which already supplies services which are the responsibility of the state, will continue to guarantee spiritual care and all the material aid it has available” the missionaries told Fides.
“At the spiritual level, the most difficult and important task for the Church is to restore peace in hearts. The southern peoples are young, the majority under 15 years of age and they have known nothing but war. I was once asked by a young boy: ‘Father what is peace? Is it the pause between battles?” one of the missionaries told Fides.
However not all war’s affects were negative. The experience of conflict brought Christians of different confessions together in works of solidarity. “A strong spirit of collaboration between Churches was built up” the missionaries said .
In northern Sudan where the people are mostly Arab Muslims, the presence of Christian refugees from the south has changed the situation. “In these twenty years Christianity has taken root also in the north. Little communities of Catholics, Orthodox Christians and Protestants are changing the social and religious situation in and around the capital. Where before the presence of Christians was very small, today new flourishing communities are appearing” the missionaries told Fides
Some figures to explain: in the 1980s in the archdiocese of Khartoum there were 120,000 Catholics. By 1999 the community had grown to over 900,000.
“By making our Archbishop of Khartoum Gabriel Zubeir Wako a cardinal, Pope John Paul II gave the Church in Sudan encouragement and new hope as well as a boost to its dignity,” the missionaries said. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 6/2/2004, lines 33 words 406)
