AFRICA/SUDAN – Appeal of the Bishop of El Obeid: “The country is safe only if every single citizen is”

AFRICA/SUDAN: Appeal of El Obeid – “The country can only be safe if every citizen is”

Monday, 3 February 2022

El Obeid (Agenzia Fides – Sunday, January 2, 2022 saw the news of the resignation by the Sudanese Prime Minster Abdalla Hamdok. He said that he couldn’t return power to civilians following the military coup of October 25. On Sunday, thousands protested against military rule in Khartoum and nearby Omdurman. The military will now have complete control of the country, at the expense of the security of the entire population. “Freedom, peace, justice, and Sudan that accommodates everyone and that looks forward to changing and building a new Sudan in which everyone is equal, as one people and one nation” which is the remembrance of the overthrowing of Sudan’s seventh Head of State Omar al-Bashir by a popular revolution that ended almost three decades in power, which the Bishop of the diocese of El Obeid, Mgr.Yunan Tombe Trille Kuku, highlighted on the occasion of his Christmas and New Year 2022 message.
“Security of all Sudanese brothers and sisters is the security of Sudan,” declared the Bishop, who is also President at the Catholic Bishops Conference of Sudan (SCBC) in a note sent to Fides.
Archbishop Trille highlighted the urgent need to ensure security for all citizens of the nation and the renewal and trust in God through participation in the promotion and maintenance of peace. “Christmas is a time when we seek forgiveness in order to begin a new chapter in our lives with those around. We also seek to love God and others, for he who doesn’t love, doesn’t know God.” The Bishop said that Christmas is when we think of others, it’s a time of selflessness where we forgive, evaluate our lives, our behavior and our relationship to God and people to make changes and be better than we are now.
The Prelate stated that the previous regime used discrimination and exclusion to rule the country. This has led to the current Sudan. However, everyone hopes for a new Sudan that is better with the cooperation of all Sudanese. Bishop Trille urged Christians to pray for everyone in authority, “so we may live a peaceful and tranquil life with all devotion and dignity.”
Since October last year, hundreds of Sudanese have been injured, beaten or arrested. Sudan is home to 44 million people and has been in a precarious state since Omar Bashir, the dictator, was forced to resign two-years ago after massive protests. Prime Minister Hamdok was to lead a government of civilian and military technical personnel until the new elections in July 2023. (AP) (Agenzia Fides, 3/1/2022)

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