Sudanese Christians have appealed for prayers on the eve of the referendum due to start on Sunday, 9 January on whether Sudan will remain united or divide into two, North and South. Voting is restricted to Southern Sudan. It is almost universally expected that there will be a vote for Southern independence, leading to the establishment of a new state on 9 July. Continue reading Sudan: Christians appeal for prayers on eve of referendum
Category Archives: Sudan
South Sudan Independence: Who Wants it and Why
Bahati Jacques, Policy Analyst
“How can my country be Arab-Islamic when I am not Arab or Muslim? What am I? How can I belong?” said Pagan Amum, Secretary General of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) in an interview with Voice of America. In Sudan, the issue of identity is one of the core problems for which on January 9th, 2011 a referendum on South Sudan will be held. In general terms, January 9th is an opportunity for self-determination for the black Sudanese who are originally from South Sudan and have been considered second class citizens by the ruling Arab minority in the North. Continue reading South Sudan Independence: Who Wants it and Why
Rights groups laud Senate architects of legislation to promote peace and stability in Sudan
Seventeen anti-genocide and human rights organizations praised [US Congressmen] for introducing the Sudan Peace and Stability Act, legislation directing U.S. government action to help prevent a return to full-scale war in Sudan. Continue reading Rights groups laud Senate architects of legislation to promote peace and stability in Sudan
I am coming to ring the alarm bell about Sudan
On the eve of a landmark visit to the UK, a bishop from one of Sudan’s worst trouble spots has spelled out calls for the international community to prevent the region from “descending into violence. Continue reading I am coming to ring the alarm bell about Sudan
101 days of prayer with the people of Sudan
Sudan is entering a critical period as the January 2011 referendum approaches.
Mandated by the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), the referendum gives the people of Southern Sudan the right to determine their future status – one of unity with the North or independence. (Read a recent NewsNotes article on this issue here.) Monumental challenges remain in the way of a free and fair referendum. Continue reading 101 days of prayer with the people of Sudan
Who Can Mock This Church?
New York Times
Nicholas Kristof addresses reader feedback and posts short takes from his travels.
Nicholas D. Kristof
On the Ground
Maybe the Catholic Church should be turned upside down.
Jesus wasn’t known for pontificating from palaces, covering up scandals, or issuing Paleolithic edicts on social issues. Does anyone think he would have protected clergymen who raped children?
Yet if the top of the church has strayed from its roots, much of its base is still deeply inspiring. I came here to impoverished southern Sudan to write about Sudanese problems, not the Catholic Church’s. Yet once again, I am awed that so many of the selfless people serving the world’s neediest are lowly nuns and priests — notable not for the grandeur of their vestments but for the grandness of their compassion.
As I’ve noted before, there seem to be two Catholic Churches, the old boys’ club of the Vatican and the grass-roots network of humble priests, nuns and laity in places like Sudan. The Vatican certainly supports many charitable efforts, and some bishops and cardinals are exemplary, but overwhelmingly it’s at the grass roots that I find the great soul of the Catholic Church.
The Vatican believes that this newspaper and other news organizations have been unfair and overzealous in excavating the church’s cover-ups of child rape. I see the opposite. No organization has done more to elevate the moral stature of the Catholic Church in the United States than The Boston Globe. Its groundbreaking 2002 coverage of abuse by priests led to reforms and by most accounts a significant reduction in abuse. Catholic kids are safer today not because of the cardinals’ leadership, but because of The Boston Globe’s. Continue reading Who Can Mock This Church?
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