THE COMMUNIQUE OF THE SUDAN COUNCIL OF CHURCHES 18TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
* Article
* Comments (0)
email Email
print Print
pdfSave
separation
increase
decrease
separation
separation
*
*
*
*
An Urgent Call to Rebuild
COME, LET US REBUILD… AND WE WILL NO LONGER LIVE IN DISGRACE (NEHEMIAH 2:17B)
May 9, 2011 — (JUBA) We, the delegates of the Sudan Council of
Churches (SCC) General Assembly together with our partners and other
participants, met in Juba from 9th to 11th of May, 2011 to pray and to
reflect on the prevailing situation in our country. In our reflection,
we were encouraged that although the way ahead of us maybe hard and
difficult, God will see us through. We were exhorted to trust God for
the future and to fix our eyes on him. He has been faithful to us as a
people and we deeply thank him for what he has done, what he is doing
and what he will do in us and through us. We are grateful for the
attendance and input of the Minister for Justice and Legal Affairs and
on the interim constitution of South Sudan. We were also honoured by
the presence of the Presidential Advisor for Religious Affairs. We
give God all the praise, all the honour and all the worship!
As we reflect on the time to rebuild we note the following:
We look back with sincere gratitude to God for the overwhelming
success of the South Sudan referendum in January this year and for the
peaceful conduct of Popular Consultation in Blue Nile and
gubernatorial elections in Southern Kordofan, whose results are yet to
be announced. We call for peace in South Kordofan no matter what the
results of the election will be.
We look forward with faith for the birth of two states on July 9th.
Our prophetic statement in March 2010 that Sudan shall never be the
same again after the referendum has been fulfilled. The referendum
event has passed, but the process of nation building has yet to start.
It is now time to rebuild, so that we no longer live in disgrace.
With the prospects of two nations emerging from the old Sudan, we
affirm our unity as the Church of Jesus Christ, both in the North and
in the South. Being one body of Christ, we are one people and we are
indivisible. We have one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and
Father of all. Our divine mandate exceeds geographical and political
boundaries.
We call for inclusive and open constitutional processes both in the
North and in the South. While acknowledging the electoral mandates
that the ruling parties in the North and in the South have, we still
call for these inclusive and open constitutional processes because the
interests of the nations are at stake and these interests are bigger
than any one political body or group.
We call for freedom of movement, freedom of worship, freedom of
expression, freedom of work and freedom of residence in the two states
after July 9th. We also call upon the two states to respect, protect
and guarantee minority rights including religious rights as enshrined
in the interim constitutions and will be enshrined in the permanent
constitutions.
We are concerned with the increasing waves of military activities,
defections and counter-defections in the south as we approach the
declaration of independence. It is our belief that the presidential
amnesty offered to all armed groups in October 2010 is still holding
and all those concerned should accordingly take advantage of this.
Consequently, we call upon all armed groups to lay down their arms and
come to the negotiating table. The way of peace is always the best.
We call upon the government of South Sudan to ensure the security and
the protection of the civil population caught in the crossfire between
the militias and the government forces. We expect the government
forces, now transiting from Guerilla army to modern and conventional
army, not to engage in criminal activities such as looting, rape and
extra-judicial killing and killing of the innocent civilians in the
process of dealing with armed groups’ leaders and their forces. The
end never justifies the means.
We call for peaceful settlement of the Abyei question within the
framework of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). The people of
Abyei must be given the freedom and the opportunity to decide their
destiny. In this process, we urge the UN, the USA, the EU, the AU and
the IGAD to arbitrate between the NCP and SPLM on the Abyei question.
As the political tension continues to rise in Abyei, we urge the
partners to the CPA to avoid warlike inflammatory language and instead
resolve the question timely and peacefully. We see no need to incite
violence in Abyei. We know that violence in all its forms always
breeds violence and violence will never be the way to settle
grievances.
We call for the peaceful resolution of the Darfur problem.
We call upon the International Community, the Government of Sudan, the
Government of South Sudan and all people of good will to assist in
settling the Internally Displaced Persons/returnees. The suffering of
these children of God as they try to find shelter, food and basic
daily needs is our concern and should be for all people of conscience.
Conclusion We recommit ourselves to the ministry of justice, peace and
reconciliation in our country. In this regard, we resolve to roll out
once again the people to people peace process in our communities to
the effect that peace will prevail truly at all levels. As we engage
in this noble task, we call upon our political leaders in the North
and in the South to refrain from making provocative statements and
instead preach peace, harmony and good neighbourliness among all our
people. We all need peace even if we become two states. We believe in
the destiny of our people and we encourage all our people to live in
peace as they endeavour to reach it. We have no doubt God will bless
us. He began a good work in our country and he will bring it to
completion. This is our faith!
Signed on 11th May 2011
______________________________ Fr. Joshua Michael Bp. Ismail Abudigin
Catholic Church Episcopal Church of Sudan
______________________________ Rev. Peter Makuac Bp. Michael Taban
Presbyterian Church of Sudan Sudan Pentecostal Church
_____________________________ Rev. Abraham Nul Rev. Moses Gatkouth
Sudan Interior Church Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church
______________________________ Fr. Bishay Alantony Pastor Barnabas
Mattias Coptic Orthodox Church Sudan Church of Christ
______________________________ Elder John Daniel Bp. James Lagos Greek
Catholic Church Africa Inland Church
______________________________ Bp. Ezekiel Kondo Rev. Ramadan Chan
Liol Chair, Sudan Council of Churches General Secretary, SCC
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "JFD
info" group.
To post to this group, send email to [email protected].
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
[email protected].
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/jfdinfo?hl=en.
