Episcopal Independence In Sudan

Giving thanks for the first anniversary of the founding of the Republic of South Sudan, a group of approximately 70 gathered late the night of July 9 at Episcopal General Convention to celebrate the Martyrs of Sudan in a service of Holy Eucharist.

Interspersed with prayers in Dinka, English and Arabic, the Sudanese Christians and visitors sang and celebrated their deliverance from the civil war with the north that raged from 1983-2005. The war resulted in the death of nearly two and a half million South Sudanese, and displaced almost twice as many. Following a largely peaceful referendum in 2011, the new country declared its independence from the Islamist government based in the capital of Khartoum. Hostilities between the two Sudans have increased over the past year, with both moderate Muslim and Christian refugees from the north fleeing persecution by the Khartoum government. Recently, officials in Khartoum demolished a Christian church, claiming that all Christians had relocated to the south and the church was no longer needed. Church officials disputed the claim, countering that they were being driven out.