Sudan Bishop: ‘War does not discriminate against anyone’

Coptic Bishop Sarabamon of Atbara, Omdurman, and northern Sudan said that the war in Sudan is “a story of pain, suffering, and innocent blood shed every day. Everyone suffers and wants an end to the war, but we do not have the tools to achieve it.”

In a rare interview with the Egyptian Coptic ME Sat channel yesterday, the bishop said that harm had been inflicted not only on Sudanese people but also on vital services including hospitals, water supply, electricity, bridges, roads, and airports.

“We expected war but did not expect this level of devastation and destruction. This war does not discriminate against anyone. Neither against Muslims and Christians nor one human and another.”

He added: “What is happening is not ‘Sudanese’ in thought or action. It is foreign to the country, but unfortunately, we see it everywhere in Sudan.

“The only hope is that tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, the situation will improve for our children. We hope that the warring parties will reach an agreement and peace will return to Sudan.”

Bishop Sarabamon raised particular concern about Sudanese children, who will inherit the state of the country. “What will our grandchildren say about us? We received the country intact, but the way we are handing it over… How can we show our faces to them?”

He concluded by asking God to give guidance about how to stop the war to those in power. “Our country is our pride, glory, and honour. It is what we boast about to the outside world,” he said. “When our homelands have been destroyed by people, whoever they are, what can we boast about? I hope with all my heart that our thoughts will be on how Sudan lives and not how we, as individuals, survive.”

In his weekly address to the Vatican, Pope Francis urged world leaders to look for ways to reach peace between the warring parties in Sudan on June 2. It came as a reiteration of earlier calls on Sudan’s warring parties to stop the war. Early January, the bishops of the Catholic Church in Sudan and South Sudan called on the United Nations, the ‘Troika’ of USA, the United Kingdom, Norway, and other members of the international community, to intensify their efforts to end the ongoing violence in Sudan.