Pope berates Sudan on Christian rights
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.KHARTOUM (Reuter) - The Pope compared the sufferings of Sudan's Catholics yesterday to the crucifixion of Christ, and told the Islamic government that only guaranteeing the rights of Christians and other minorities would bring peace.
'Peace without justice and respect for human rights cannot be achieved,' the Pope told Sudan's President, General Omar Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir, in a public address that came close to a lecture. 'In a multiracial and multicultural country, a strategy of confrontation can never bring peace and progress.
'At a time of growing awareness of the importance of respect for human rights as the basis of a just and peaceful world, the question of the respect due to minorities must be faced seriously, especially by political and religious leaders,' the Pope said.
Wearing military uniform and addressing the Pope in Arabic, Gen Bashir said his government was not trying to impose Islamic law on non-Muslims in Sudan, where the church estimates that 3.5 million of the 26 million population are Christian.
In a highly unusual move last October the Vatican made a formal public protest about the treatment of the Catholic church in the mainly Christian and animist south, where a civil war is raging between Muslim government forces and the Sudanese People's Liberation Army (SPLA). The Vatican accused Sudan of discrimination in education, harassment of priests and closing Catholic organisations since Islamic law was promulgated in 1991.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments