Catholic Bishop of the El Obeid Diocese calls for dialogue in Sudan

The yearlong violence started when fighting erupted between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the paramilitary force under General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, and army units of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) that are loyal to the head of Sudan's transitional governing Sovereign Council, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

In an interview with ACI Africa on Tuesday, May 28, Bishop Yunan Tombe Trille Kuku lamented that “so far there is not even a clue to the light of peace dialogue that can bring hope for the Sudanese. (...) I believe that our leaders are not ready for peace. Fighting and conflict have the upper hand as we hear them say ‘unless we defeat the other group we won’t put down weapons’,” Bishop Trille said.

The Sudanese Catholic Bishop said that opposing parties in the Sudanese conflict have been unable to agree with each other as they have set unimaginable conditions for each other. “Time has come for them to think of the people and nation,” the immediate former President of the Sudan Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SCBC) said. He cautioned that “the more the fighting, the more people get scattered” and “the more hatred grows among various Sudanese ethnic groups.”

The Catholic Bishop who started his Episcopal Ministry in April 2017 called on the leaders to “kneel down to pray, 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”. He asked both parties to “go back to dialogue as children of one mother and one father because Sudan is enough to carry them.”

In the May 28 interview, Bishop Trille lamented that the humanitarian situation of the few that remain in the city has deteriorated, saying they are living in a difficult situation due to food shortage and lack of medical supplies. “If the situation continues, people of Sudan will be more divided on ethnic and religious lines,” the Catholic Bishop warned, adding that the situation “will be unhealthy”. He said the war has affected pastoral and social activities in Sudan.

“Schools are suspended from 15 April 2023. Priests that are in the different parishes remain within the parish and they can’t go elsewhere, and many of the parishes have ceased to exist,” Bishop Trille further lamented. He continued, “It’s not easy. We have gone back to the first century of our creation, and our good roads have been abandoned; we don't use them anymore”. The Sudanese Catholic Bishop said that there’s still a “big number of the faithful who need pastoral and spiritual guidance.”

He appealed for prayers as the humanitarian situation in the country remains dire. The Bishop further appealed to the people of South Sudan “to share the little that they have” with Sudanese refugees and make them feel at home. Bishop Trille said that most of those seeking refuge in South Sudan still face challenges in their attempt to reach Malakal, Juba or Wau.

“Such is the life of people in war, they need your prayers because how little peace could help us through. There is nothing more than prayer so that the two leaders of Sudan come into dialogue for peace to prevail,” the Catholic Bishop said.

ACI Africa