Amid ongoing fighting and humanitarian crises in several regions of Sudan, and risks of failure in implementing the 2005 peace agreement that ended two decades of civil war between north and south, the Sudanese people and churches face "tremendous tasks and challenges", says an international ecumenical team.
Representatives of the Sudan Council of Churches (SCC) met the delegation led by the World Council of Churches (WCC) General Secretary Rev Dr Samuel Kobia in Khartoum on Wednesday at the beginning of an eight-day solidarity visit to the country.
The group visiting the capital is one of four teams travelling to different regions, including Darfur, Rumbek and Yambio. All of them will join Sudanese church leaders, women and youth for a three-day conference in Juba on Monday 31 March.
Taking place nearly half-way through the interim period established by the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, the ecumenical visit "comes at the right time in the history of Sudan", said the SCC’s statement welcoming the delegation.
"We are grateful for the moral support of the ecumenical family which helped us to stand the slaughter and trauma during the war", said Bishop Rudolph Deng Majak, chairman of the SCC board of trustees and president of the Sudan Catholic Bishops' Conference.
