The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has hailed the instalment of Sudan’s new Anglican Primate, Archbishop Ezekiel Kumir Kondo Kuku, as a “new beginning” for Christians in Sudan.
In a sermon given as the new primate was formally installed at All Saints’ Cathedral in Khartoum on Saturday, Archbishop Welby said the birth of a new province within the Anglican Communion was “a new beginning which raises questions and hopes together”.
“There is much to develop, many opportunities and many challenges. There is land and there are churches, above all there is a wonderful people. The Province must learn to be sustainable financially, to develop the skills of its people, and to bless this country, as the Christians here already do.”
He later praised the Khartoum government for welcoming refugees from the conflict in South Sudan and thanked it for sending representatives to the inauguration service, adding: “No government need fear this province, for the more liberty it has, the more it will seek to bless its society, the more it will give. That is true the world over.”
Later, he told the BBC that in a subsequent meeting on Sunday with Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir, he has raised the issue of religious freedom “strongly”.
The Province of Sudan is the 39th province in the Anglican Communion. The need for the new province became apparent after South Sudan became independent of Sudan in 2011.
The Province of Sudan and South Sudan had been headquartered in the fledgling nation where the majority of the Anglican Episcopal Church of Sudan’s (ECS) four and a half million members live but the ongoing civil strife in South Sudan and the difficulty of the primate there overseeing the church in neighbouring Sudan led to the creation of the new autonomous province.
It’s estimated there are about two million Christians in Sudan, a Muslim-majority nation. The nation has been repeatedly criticised for its restrictions on religious freedom, in particular towards Christians.
– with World Watch Monitor
