Letter of solidarity of the Comboni Missionaries with Church and people of the Sudan

His Grace Mgr. Michael Didi
Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Khartoum
His Lordship Mgr. Yunan Tombe Trille
Bishop of El-Obeid
His Lordship Mgr. Daniel Adwok
Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Khartoum

“For my part, I appeal to God, and the Lord saves me; evening, morning, noon,
I complain and I groan. He hears my cry”
(Psalm 55: 16-17)

Your Grace, Mgr Michael
Your Lordship Mgr Tombe
Your Lordship Mgr Daniel,

we greet you all in the name of our Risen Lord Jesus Christ!

We the Comboni Missionaries are following with much distress the episodes of violence that have been unfolding in Khartoum and in many more cities all over Sudan since last Saturday, 15th April. We understand that the two factions had been mounting a rhetoric of confrontation and fuelled mutual mistrust for quite some time, and we are sorry to see that once again the voice of heavy weaponry seems to shatter all other voices calling for dialogue and reconciliation.

We have been following the sad happenings of these days through the news coming to us from our confreres, the Comboni Sisters and some lay people in Khartoum, and elsewhere, and we are extremely sorry for the distress that is being caused to civilians and to many members of the Church personnel, especially when hundreds of school students had to remain trapped in their schools fearing for their lives. We thank God that – to the best of our knowledge – they later on managed to reach their homes safely.

We want to assure you all, the Shepherds of the People of God and through you to the entire Catholic Church in the Sudan, of our prayer to God Almighty, so that in the whole of Sudan, violence may come to an end and peaceful solutions may be sought. Peace is the only way ahead. We ask the Lord to console all the suffering people of God who have been affected by the conflict.

We commend the country of Sudan, which is the land of our dear father and founder St. Daniel Comboni, to the Divine Mercy, on the eve of whose Sunday these events have started taking place and renew our prayer: “Jesus we put our trust in You!”

The General Council
in communion with the Provincial Superior and Council.

Roma, 18 April 2023

c.c. The Provincial Superior Mccj, Egypt-Sudan Province