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Sudan is in the front line again as the country is engulfed in war. Church leaders are among those calling for peace as desperate people try to survive the unthinkable.
The current conflict, which is less than a month old, has already claimed at least 528 people and wounded 4,599, the health ministry reports.
There’s no running water in the capital, Khartoum. The same applies to other big cities. Vital infrastructure is shattered. There’s no electricity. Food and water are in short supply.
While churches and church property have been destroyed, this is not an ideological or religious conflict, The Tablet reports.
“All citizens from Muslim and minority Christian communities are equally affected. Lay people, priests and religious are unable to leave their houses. Masses in churches have been stopped, although communal prayers continue in some houses.”
Since 15 April, fighting between Sudanese Army Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has gripped the country, triggering fears of a humanitarian crisis.
As fighting intensifies, people are either hiding or joining refugees streaming from Sudan’s broken, dangerous cities.
The UN says about 75,000 have been displaced by the fighting in Khartoum and the states of Blue Nile, North Kordofan, as well as the western region of Darfur.
Suffering and destruction
The people of Sudan are suffering and yearning for peace, says South Sudanese Catholic Archbishop Stephen Ameyu Martin Mula.
To preserve Sudan’s unity and not further people’s suffering “we call for an end to the fighting and a return to dialogue,” Mula said in a statement from the Catholic Conference of Bishops of Sudan and South Sudan (SSSCBC).
The Church is joining “her voice with the rest of people in seeking peace so that the two warring parties stop fighting and dialogue,” added Fr Peter Suleiman, SSSCBC Secretary General.
“It happens that a lot of infrastructure has been destroyed, and these are historical buildings that give meaning to the country, especially the barracks and the presidential palaces; the symbols of a country destroyed. These will cause a lot of energy to rebuild.”
Lucky escapes
A concern for churches follows reports that two rockets demolished a priest’s house and damaged the Cathedral of Mary Queen of Africa in the Sudanese Catholic Diocese of El Obeid last month.
Days earlier, armed men also targeted the Anglican Cathedral in Khartoum and used guns to break into cars, Sudanese Anglican church officials say.
No one was hurt in either incident.
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