WCC NEWS: Ecumenical solidarity visit encourages cooperation between churches and people of Sudan

To accompany the churches and people of Sudan in the midst of significant changes and challenges in the country, a delegation of World Council of Churches (WCC) along with its ecumenical partners is undertaking an ecumenical solidarity visit to Sudan. Members of the ecumenical solidarity visit to Sudan from the World Council of Churches, All Africa Conference of Churches and the Fellowship of Christian Councils and Churches in the Great Lakes and Horn of Africa. Photo: WCC 22 April 2022 Together with the All Africa Conference of Churches and the Fellowship of Christian Councils and Churches in the Great Lakes and Horn of Africa, the solidarity visit to Sudan is taking place from 20-25 April.  This visit was originally planned for early 2020, but was prevented by the COVID-19 pandemic. “It is now being undertaken in a context that in the meantime has greatly changed, in particular due to the events of October 2021 in which the Sudanese military suspended the Constitution and dissolved the civilian administration,” notes Rev. Ibrahim Wushishi Yusuf, WCC programme executive for Peacebuilding in the African Region. “That administration formed part of a joint transitional government since the ouster of President Omar al Bashir in December 2018.” The 12-person delegation includes Dr Agnes Abuom, moderator of the WCC central committee, Peter Prove, director of the WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, and Yusuf. The delegation is led by Bishop Musa Panti FIlibus of the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria, current president of the Lutheran World Federation. “The core purposes of the ecumenical solidarity visit are to serve as a physical expression of the commitment of regional and international ecumenical partners in accompanying the churches and people of Sudan amid such significant changes and challenges,” said Prove. “We express our support for the churches of Sudan in their witness and ministry, and encourage national ecumenical cooperation in addressing the needs of Sudan’s people.” In addition to close consultations with the leadership of the churches of Sudan and of the Sudan Council of Churches, the delegation is meeting with political leaders including the minister for Religious Affairs, representatives of the “Forces of Freedom and Change” and the Sovereign Council, as well as civil society counterparts. WCC member churches in Sudan See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 349 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 550 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC acting general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca, from the Orthodox Church in Romania. Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches 150 route de Ferney Geneve 2 1211 Switzerland