• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Elizabeth Scalia
          • Michael R. Heinlein
          • Effie Caldarola
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Mark Viviano
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • Magazine Subscriptions
        • Archdiocesan Directory
  • CR Radio
        • CR Radio
        • Protagonistas de Fe
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
A woman and baby are pictured in a January 2024 photo at the Zamzam displacement camp close to El Fasher in North Darfur, Sudan. (OSV News photo/Mohamed Zakaria, MSF handout via Reuters)

War is tearing Sudan apart, bishops say

July 10, 2024
By Ngala Killian Chimton
OSV News
Filed Under: Disaster Relief, News, World News

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

As fighting continues to rage in Sudan in the Horn of Africa, Catholic bishops in neighboring South Sudan accused warring factions of committing “horrendous war crimes” while the people are suffering “a humanitarian disaster.”

In a June 29 pastoral message, the prelates noted that “the fabric of Sudanese society has been torn apart, with people shocked, traumatized, and disbelieving about the level of violence and hatred.”

Yet, there appears to be no end in sight of the escalating conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces, or SAF, and the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF.

War broke out in Sudan April 15, 2023, between two rival armed factions of the Sudanese military government.

Almost 15,000 people have been killed to date, and almost 9 million have been displaced, giving rise to the worst displacement crisis in the world. Nearly 2 million displaced Sudanese have fled to unstable areas in Chad, Ethiopia and South Sudan, overrunning refugee camps. The U.N. continues to plead for more support as more than 25 million people need humanitarian assistance and deteriorating food security risks triggering the “world’s largest hunger crisis.”

Young refugees eat a meal at “Dar Mariam,” a Catholic church and school compound in al-Shajara district, where they took shelter in Khartoum, Sudan, in this undated handout picture. (OSV News photo/Father Jacob Thelekkadan, handout via Reuters)

South Sudan bishops said economic considerations are making it more difficult for peace to return to the troubled country.

“This is not simply a war between two generals, as the military has inextricably embedded itself in the economic life of the country. Both SAF and RSF have networks of wealthy elite Sudanese and international individuals and cartels who benefit from their control of various economic sectors and are linked to external sponsors who continue to provide them with increasingly sophisticated weapons, such as drones,” the bishops said.

“Our leaders are not ready for peace,” said Bishop Yunan Tombe Trille Kuku Andali of El Obeid, who read the bishops’ statement during a press conference. “Fighting and conflict have the upper hand as we hear them say unless we defeat the other group, we won’t put down weapons,” he said.

The bishop said the time had come for the warring factions “to think of the people and nation. The more the fighting, the more people get scattered and the more hatred grows among various Sudanese ethnic groups.”

“Kneel down to pray,” he continued, “and hear the voice of God and the voice of the people, the children, the women that cry for peace, and also the blood that cries on the ground of very innocent people who died because of crossfire. Go back to dialogue as children of one mother and one father.”

Bishops in South Sudan have joined other global agencies in calls for humanitarian assistance to Sudan, even as they recognize the fact that the wars in Ukraine and Gaza have meant shrinking international humanitarian assistance to their region.

Other faith-based nongovernmental organizations also urging action on Sudan as the humanitarian situation worsens are Caritas Internationalis, the World Council of Churches and Jesuit Refugee Service.

The NGOs sent the United Nations’ Human Rights Council, which convened June 18 in Geneva, a message calling on all parties “to agree on an immediate and durable ceasefire and to engage in meaningful dialogue to establish lasting peace and work towards a sustainable solution to address the underlying causes of the conflict.”

They deplored the repeated sexual violence targeting women and children and noted the displacement of over 9 million people had reached “untenable levels.”

They warned that without an immediate injection of funds,”the capacity of neighboring countries to respond will soon reach a breaking point.”

As fighting persists with its attendant humanitarian consequences, Pope Francis has been quite vocal in his calls for a cessation of violence.

Bishop Eduardo Hiiboro Kussala of Tombura-Yambio told OSV News that the influx of refugees to South Sudan from Sudan was stretching humanitarian aid to the limits, and expressed frustration at the dearth of funding.

“The church in Sudan appeals to us to help stop the war, provide humanitarian assistance, do advocacy work for peace, prepare for ‘after the war’ in terms of reconciliation, reconstruction, and trauma healing and above all, pray for them,” said the bishop.

Read More World News

80 years after ‘Trinity,’ Catholic-hosted gathering calls to abolish nuclear weapons

Gaza’s Christian community persevering amid hardship and hope

Nearly one in three conceptions in England and Wales end in abortion, government figures reveal

Caring for others, serving life is the ‘supreme law,’ pope says

Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors’ new president ‘pioneer in his field,’ French lawyer says

Jesus did not ignore those in need, and neither should Christians, pope says

Copyright © 2024 OSV News

Print Print

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

Primary Sidebar

Ngala Killian Chimton

Click here to view all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

| MOST POPULAR |

  • 3 North Americans named to Vatican dicasteries for ecumenism, interreligious dialogue

  • Archbishop Lori announces clergy appointments, including pastor and associate pastors

  • St. Mary’s purchases former Annapolis Area Christian School

  • Pope’s prayer intention for July: That the faithful might again learn how to discern

  • superman Movie Review: Superman

| Latest Local News |

Deacon Gary Elliott Dumer Jr., active in men’s ministry, dies

Radio Interview: The music and ministry of Seph Schlueter

Hunt Valley parishioner recalls her former student – a future pope

Father Herman Benedict Czaster, former Curley teacher, dies at 86

Loyola University Maryland graduate ordained Jesuit priest

| Latest World News |

80 years after ‘Trinity,’ Catholic-hosted gathering calls to abolish nuclear weapons

Gaza’s Christian community persevering amid hardship and hope

Nearly one in three conceptions in England and Wales end in abortion, government figures reveal

Caring for others, serving life is the ‘supreme law,’ pope says

Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors’ new president ‘pioneer in his field,’ French lawyer says

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • 80 years after ‘Trinity,’ Catholic-hosted gathering calls to abolish nuclear weapons
  • Gaza’s Christian community persevering amid hardship and hope
  • Nearly one in three conceptions in England and Wales end in abortion, government figures reveal
  • The virtue of patriotism
  • Caring for others, serving life is the ‘supreme law,’ pope says
  • Deacon Gary Elliott Dumer Jr., active in men’s ministry, dies
  • Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors’ new president ‘pioneer in his field,’ French lawyer says
  • Radio Interview: The music and ministry of Seph Schlueter
  • Jesus did not ignore those in need, and neither should Christians, pope says

Search

Membership

Catholic Media Assocation

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2025 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

en Englishes Spanish
en en