Card. Wako of Sudan on the birth of a nation

“With this celebration of independence we are saying goodbye to the past and embracing a new thing, without fighting, a new future of reconciliation, solidarity and forgiveness” says Cardinal Gabriel Zubeir Wako, Archbishop of Khartoum, North Sudan. He is just one of the many people who has devoted his entire life to bringing peace to his homeland.

South Sudan has officially declared its independence from Sudan. It is the culmination of a 2005 peace deal that ended more than two decades of civil war between Sudan's Arab-dominated north and mainly Christian and animist south. The conflict left over a million people, mostly civilians, dead.

Cardinal Wako describes how on the eve of independence, the people of Sudan - North and South - gathered in their towns and villages, build bonfires and hold prayer vigils throughout the night. Then, at dawn the bonfires were lit and together they broke their fast, symbolising - he says – something new that they will be producing from their own hands:

“The bishops conference have planned a religious celebration – not necessarily on the same day – but in all diocese there will be celebrations with dance and song in thanksgiving to God and the acknowledgement of the good that those who have worked for peace have achieved in the country”.

Cardinal Wako describes how the road to peace in Sudan has been a long and at times perilous one. He also says that while the South’s succession marks a turning point on the road, the journey is far from over. And through it all – he affirms – war, dialogue and political agreements, the Church in Sudan has stood with its people: “It did a lot to convince people that no solution would be found by violence and conflicts. That the best path was dialogue and cooperation, so we talked to the government and on many occasions we had to tell the government that the policies that were being pursued would not achieve peace. And then the Southern people, those that were fighting, we told them they had to develop policies for peace, not simply a war for peace. They had to propose ways in which peace could be achieved without killing people or destroying things. Even the ways they were organised was all based on military strength, there were no people capable of dialogue, able to speak and discuss issues on their behalf and those that had these qualities were not considered. So we focused on supporting these people. Then among ordinary people we focused strongly on the need to pray for peace, to do penance for peace. Then we tried to lead people to consider their own contribution to the situation of war, because tribal wars had also begun to develop, the question of looting property and people, the soldiers behaviour during the war, justifying their behaviour because of the war, that was a large part of our pastoral work. Then of course the problems for ordinary people, hunger, the lack of access to food because of the insecurity in transportation, the problem of educating children. We opened a lot of schools during the war, which at least occupied large part of the young people, rather than their taking up arms. Our aim of developing women, convincing the women that they could play a very active role in bringing about peace. We recruited women in order to talk and convince people in the villages of the need for peace. And we also encouraged literacy among women, we challenged them to do something constructive, the mothers and sisters to help their men develop and become the building blocks of the future society in Sudan”. Listen: