VIDEO report: Christians in Port Sudan pray for peace. What is Ramadan, how long does it last?

RAMADAN starts today. In solidarity with those praying for peace in Sudan and the world, here's a video showing some members of the minority Christian community in Sudan managing to celebrate Christmas in Port Sudan last December. Video is titled Christians in Port Sudan pray for peace.

Source: Ayin Network, January 10, 2024

'Christians in Port Sudan pray for peace'

While challenging given the current circumstances in Sudan, members of the Christian community managed to celebrate the Christmas holidays in Port Sudan. 

https://3ayin.com/en/christmas/

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What is Ramadan, how long does it last and why do Muslims fast?

Full story: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/explainers-56695447

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Sudan: Sniper sparks a fire at Dar Mariam Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (FMA) house in Khartoum

On April 30, 2023 Archbishop Michael Didi Adgum Mangoria of Khartoum confirmed that "many people, including priests and nuns, have fled the most contested areas" of Sudan since April 15. Read more.

Report from ANS 
Dated 04 January 2024 - here is a copy in full:

Sudan – Sniper sparks a fire at the FMA house in Karthoum

(ANS – Karthoum) – The Dar Mariam house of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (FMA) in Karthoum, Sudan, was again affected by the war. In the early afternoon of Tuesday, 2 January, at around 2 pm, a sniper from one of the rebel groups involved in the war set fire to the second floor of the house. The rooms and the hall on the affected side of the floor were badly damaged. But the great help offered by the neighbours and some soldiers made it possible to put out the fire in two hours.

“No one was injured in the accident! Thank God! And may his will and his glory always prevail!" Fr Jacob Thelekkadan, an Indian Salesian missionary in the country, who has been living in the Dar Mariam house of the FMA since shortly after the outbreak of the war, commented on the matter.

Although largely forgotten by the outside world, the war in Sudan continues, involving several paramilitary factions in addition to the national army, and has already reached the 265th day of fighting, death, and destruction. With official data at a standstill last October, there are still about 10,000 victims and almost 12,000 injured, while according to information released by the United Nations International Office for Migration at the end of 2023, the conflict had caused almost 6 million internally displaced people and over 1.5 million refugees in other countries.

The Dar Mariam house of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians – which in addition to the Sisters and Fr Jacob also houses several mothers and children and a group of men, some of them elderly and sick – had already been affected by the war not even two months before this last episode: on the morning of 3 November 2023, in fact, it had been hit by a large bomb. Also in that case, serious damage resulted for several classrooms and structures of the work, but providentially only a few minor injuries.

View original: https://www.infoans.org/en/

h/t with thanks to Sudan Tribune - January 23, 2024 

Sudan: Salesian sisters’ home damaged in ongoing war

https://sudantribune.com/article281617/

ENDS

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Related

Sudan Watch - January 20, 2024 

Sudan: Christian man killed by RSF militia. 

Baraka Parish church at Hajj Yusuf near Khartoum set on fire 

- Christian Buildings Targeted in Military Conflict in Sudan

- Sudan: Unidentified arsonists raze the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Wad Madani, Aj Jazirah State

https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2024/01/sudan-christian-man-killed-by-rsf.html

Sudan Watch - November 13, 2023

Missile hits Salesian Sisters' house in Khartoum Sudan

Damage at Dar Mariam Mission in Khartoum (© ACN).

https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2023/11/missile-hits-salesian-sisters-house-in.html

Sudan Watch - July 04, 2023

Sudan: Salesian Sisters care for wounded & displaced

Over the years, a strong community of international Catholic sisters and other religious has been active in Sudan. According to Roszkowska, there have been many Catholic sisters from as far as India, El Salvador, Vietnam, South Sudan and Poland.

However, after the latest war erupted in April, only four Salesian Sisters of Don Bosco remain in Sudan. Global Sisters Report recently reported on Sr. Angelina Ebrahim Trilly Koko of the Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd saying that her congregation had already shut down several schools and hospitals serving thousands of residents and stopped pastoral work. 

On April 30, Archbishop Michael Didi Adgum Mangoria of Khartoum confirmed that "many people, including priests and nuns, have fled the most contested areas" of Sudan since April 15.

https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2023/06/sudan-salesian-sisters-care-for-wounded.html

ENDS

Sudan: Unidentified arsonists raze the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Wad Madani, Aj Jazirah State

ACCORDING to this very sad report, unidentified arsonists razed the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Wad Madani, Aj Jazirah State, Sudan. The fire, based on the information gathered, was deliberate and aimed to destroy the Christian community’s religious facilities and obliterate the church’s history, which spans over a century. The flames consumed the main library, housing historical documents, and ravaged the grand hall. Has Hemeti lost control of his RSF Janjaweed militia? Why are IGAD and the African Union allowing Sudan and her people and history to be destroyed?

Read more in report from Sudan Tribune
Dated Friday, 12 January 2024 - here is a copy in full:

Unidentified arsonists raze Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Wad Madani

Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Wad Medani

January 12, 2024 (WAD MADANI) – The main headquarters of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Wad Medani, the capital of Al Jazirah State, was intentionally set ablaze, causing extensive damage to the building and destroying official documents.

Church leaders have held the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) morally and legally responsible for the incident, citing their control over the city.

Rev. Youssif Matar, Secretary-General of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, told Sudan Tribune, “We were informed that parties deliberately burned the church located in the first section neighbourhood in the middle of Wad Madani, causing severe damage.”

Matar explained that the fire, based on the information gathered, was deliberate and aimed to destroy the Christian community’s religious facilities and obliterate the church’s history, which spans over a century. The flames consumed the main library, housing historical documents, and ravaged the grand hall.

He did not rule out the possibility that this incident was an attempt to sow seeds of religious hatred and incite sectarian strife.

While Pastor Matar refrained from directly implicating the RSF in the incident, he expressed concern that “Islamic extremists or extremists within the Rapid Support Forces may be behind the incident.”

He emphasized the RSF’s “moral and criminal responsibility for the incident” owing to their absolute control over the area, stating that no unauthorized party could have entered the church headquarters without their knowledge.

On May 14, 2023, gunmen wearing RSF uniforms attacked the Mar Girgis (St. George) Church in Khartoum, one of the oldest Coptic churches in Sudan. They threatened the workers to reveal the whereabouts of money and gold, shot three individuals, and beat the bishop’s assistant with sticks, causing fractures.

The RSF has maintained control of Al-Jazirah State, with its capital Wad Madani, since December 18, 2023, following the sudden withdrawal of the army from its positions.

This takeover has been accompanied by widespread abuses affecting thousands of civilians, including killings, arrests, forced displacement, the looting of private vehicles, and the plundering of government institutions. (ST)

View original: https://sudantribune.com/article281239/

ENDS