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The attack on Catholic Bishop Yunan Tombe Trille of El Obeid Diocese, in late November, drew condemnation from both Protestant and Catholic church leaders, as it underlined the difficulties of Sudanese clergy in the context of war.
Rev. Dr Kenneth Mtata, WCC programme director for Public Witness and Diakonia, said: ”The World Council of Churches insists on the protection of all citizens, including community and religious leaders who are keeping communities together in this difficult time."
“As church leaders we condemn this act,” said Abdalla Ali Kori, general secretary of the Sudan Council of Churches. “The church in Sudan…rejects all forms of violence and hatred, and its message is peace and reconciliation.”
The bishop sustained severe injuries in an attack by members of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces near the South Sudanese border town of Renk. Trille was returning to his diocese from Juba, the South Sudan capital, where he had attended a Eucharist Congress on 24 November.
The cleric later said he had narrowly missed death, together with a deacon he was travelling with, after armed men received guns and orders to execute them.
“On the way to execution, a leader came out an office telling them these are church people, leave them to go,” Trille said in a text to other bishops.
Dr Francis Kuria Kagema, general secretary of the Africa Council of Religious Leaders, also condemned the attack on the bishop.
“Any attack on the clergy and places of worship in Sudan is highly regrettable and should not be condoned. We strongly condemn such attacks,” said Kagema, while calling for the protection of clergy, places of worship, and refugees.
Christians in Sudan are a minority, accounting for 5.5 percent of the population of 49.2 million population. Muslims make up 91 percent and Indigenous religions 2.8 percent.
The war has killed an estimated 61,000, displaced over 11 million, and left about 25 million in need of humanitarian aid, according to relief agencies. The agencies warn Sudan is facing the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
Churches in the country have pushed for the end to the war which, according to Christian charities and church organizations, has destroyed at least 165 churches.
“We have greatly been harmed by the war - too much as the churches. Since 2023 and until now the war is still ongoing. Everyone is affected, and people have fled to safer cities and neighboring countries,” said Kori.
“Christian communities and churches in Khartoum, Bahri, and Omdurman have been looted and occupied,” he added.
“[The] war must stop. The people need peace now and not tomorrow,” said Archbishop Ezekiel Kondo of the Episcopal (Anglican) Church of Khartoum. “[But] the war can only stop if supporters stop supplying weapons to the warring parties.”
