Bishop laments plight of Sudanese Christians

April 07, 2009

Auxiliary Bishop Daniel Adwok of Khartoum-- who recently balked at the International Criminal Court’s indictment of Sudanese President Omar Hassan Ahmad Al-Bashir-- has criticized Sudan’s government for ignoring the plight of displaced Christians in the predominantly Muslim northern portion of the nation. “What would attract people to leave the displacement camps,” he said, “and settle in a place of acute suffering and without infrastructure?” Darfur is not the only conflict that has plagued the nation of 40 million: Bishop Adwok alluded to the long civil war (1983-2005) between the Muslim north and the largely animist and Christian south that claimed the lives of two million. The civil war ended when Al-Bashir granted the south limited autonomy. Since 2005, the nation’s five million Catholics have fallen under two sets of religion laws. In the north, all schools-- even Christian schools-- must offer instruction in Islam, and converts from Islam to Christianity face not only criminal charges but also death at the hands of their families. In the south, on the other hand, Christians enjoy religious freedom.

 

---

For all current news, visit our News home page.

---

 
Further information:

• Sudan: Bishop’s bleak assessment of progress since 05 peace agreement (Aid to the Church in Need)
• Sudan’s bishops balk at indictment of nation’s president (CWN, March 12)