SUDAN: “War in South Sudan has also hit the Church in Sudan” says Bishop of El Obeid
Rt. Rev. Yunan Tombe Trille Kuku Andali, Bishop of El Obeid
The separation between Sudan and South Sudan left a great emptiness at an ecclesial level in the North, says Rt. Rev. Yunan Tombe Trille Kuku Andali, Bishop of El Obeid, in the north – western Sudan.
“Because of the division of the country, several priests, religious men and women and catechists returned to South Sudan. We were especially affected by the lack of catechists to animate the approximately 200 pastoral centres that are spread over the territory of the Diocese.”
As the Diocese continues to grapple with the effects caused by the separation of the two countries, Bishop Tombe says that the war in South Sudan has resulted to large number of South Sudanese refugees in El Obeid. According to him, the number of registered refugees is more than 200,000. However, there are many refugees who are not registered. He further pointed out that more than half of the registered refugees are Catholics and this involves a pastoral challenge because the Diocese has to offer them not only spiritual but also humanitarian assistance.
“Most local Christians live in the Nuba Mountains,” he said, “and the greatest difficulty we encounter with this large group of the faithful is to ensure that they acquire religious education in state schools because the subject is compulsory in schools run by the state. Unfortunately, the state does not print books for the formation of Catholics.”
According to the Bishop “In Sudan there is no real religious freedom but tolerance towards other religions. We can carry out our activities within our old churches but not outside. State regulations prohibit construction of new churches and transfer of land ownership to the Church. Thanks to the help of the Universal Church we have purchased private houses to carry out some of our pastoral activities. In this way we can reach our faithful in their homes and pray with them even in areas where there are no church buildings”.
The war in South Sudan severely hit the Church in both countries. In addition to South Sudanese refugees in Sudan, hundreds of thousands are in other neighbouring states such as Uganda.
” This year I went to visit South Sudanese refugees in Uganda and to my surprise I also found many people from Juba. About 280,000 South-Sudanese faithful are welcomed in Uganda but are deprived of religious assistance,” said Bishop Tombe.
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Source: Rome Agenzia Fides
