NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) — As the globe readies for Christmas, a Sudanese bishop is reiterating his call for “silencing of guns” in his country, where 21 months of war have caused a terrible humanitarian crisis.
Archbishop Ezekiel Kondo of the Episcopal Church in Sudan, a province of the Anglican Communion, said Christians in Sudan are preparing to observe Christmas despite the war, with residents in relatively peaceful areas expected to welcome refugees.
“In the relatively peaceful states and areas, Christmas will be as usual, and (celebrations) will increase in number because of IDPs,” the archbishop told Religion News Service from Port Sudan, using the acronym for internally displaced persons. “In the war areas, Christmas will mainly be (held) indoors, just in case there are bombings.”
The primate has lived in Port Sudan since April 2023, when the fighting between Sudan Armed Forces and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces forced him out of his seat at the All Saints Cathedral in the capital, Khartoum.
The war is raging in densely populated cities and towns with little regard for civilian safety as the two rival militaries vie for control of the country, which they wrested from an interim civilian government last year.
Sudan, red, in northeast Africa. (Map courtesy Wikimedia/Creative Commons)
Days into the conflict, RSF had seized …