Bishop urges international community to promote value of human life after Sudan coup

ACI Africa   By ACI Africa

October 27, 2021 Catholic News Agency News Briefs 0 Print

Sudanese carry a man injured during clashes as part of protests against a military coup that overthrew the transition to civilian rule, on Oct. 25, 2021 in the capital Khartoum. – Sudan’s top general declared a state of emergency Monday as soldiers rounded up civilian leaders, with three people killed as soldiers put down furious protests decrying a coup. / -/AFP via Getty Images

El Obeid, Sudan, Oct 27, 2021 / 15:19 pm (CNA).

The international community must to put pressure on Sudan’s military to show respect and value for human life, a Catholic bishop in the country said Tuesday, shortly after a coup.

Sudan’s military launched a coup against the country’s transitional government Oct. 25. Civilian rule was dissolved and General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan became head of state. Protesters have been fired on, with 10 reportedly killed.

Bishop Yunan Tombe Trille Andali of El Obeid told ACI Africa Oct. 26 that the coup is a retrogression that brings Sudan “back to the military junta rule.”

“We hear of the death of the people who express their feelings towards the coup against civilian governments,” Bishop Tombe Trille said after multiple protesters were reportedly killed.

“The international community should put their pressure on the junta to value the life of their citizens,” he said.

Bishop Tombe Trille also urged the international community “to assist the military junta to respect and abide with the norms, release the detained civil ministers and dialogue with them to hand back the power to civil government.”

“The message of the scripture remains to be the strength of the people of God in the light of any situation,” the bishop, who is also president of the Sudanese bishops’ conference, commented.

He added, “The Church in Sudan has (never) remained silent under the Cross of Christ despite some changes which took place in Sudan; the attitude of the rulers towards the Church never changed.”

Sudan had been under the military dictatorship of Omar al-Bashir since 1989, but pro-democracy protests led to his overthrow in April 2019 and the installation of a transitional government which had both civilian and military elements.

There was a failed coup in September, but this week Burhan, who was chair of the power-sharing Sovereignty Council, has detained civilian government and political party leaders.

The coup has been widely condemned, with the US and the World Bank withholding aid, and the African Union suspending Sudan from the bloc.

Sudan was listed by the US Department of State as a Country of Particular Concern for its religious freedom record from 1999 to 2019.

In December 2019, it was moved to the Special Watch List “due to significant steps taken by the civilian-led transitional government to address the previous regime’s ‘systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom.’”

At least 90 percent of Sudan’s population is Muslim, though Islam was disestablished in 2020.

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Philippine bishops support pope’s letter on traditional liturgies

July 22, 2021 Catholic News Agency 2
Cardinal Jose Advincula of Manila (right) is led to his cathedra inside the
Manila Cathedral by Archbishop Charles Brown, papal nuncio to the
Philippines, during the cardinal’s installation as new prelate of the
Archdiocese of Manila on June 24, 2021. / Jose Torres Jr. / LiCAS News

Manila, Philippines, Jul 22, 2021 / 16:00 pm (CNA).

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines issued a statement on Thursday supporting Pope Francis’ motu proprio Traditionis custodes, which restricted the use of traditional liturgies.

“We express our obedience to and communion with the Supreme Pontiff as he leads us in the realization of the unity of the Church by means of the proclamation of the Gospel and in a particular manner in the celebration of the Eucharist,” said the Philippine bishops in a July 22 statement.

On July 16, Pope Francis issued an apostolic letter “motu proprio” regarding “the use of the Roman liturgy prior to the reform of 1970.” In his letter Traditionis custodes, Pope Francis said that it is now each bishop’s “exclusive competence” to authorize the use of the Latin Mass according to the 1962 Roman Missal in his diocese. 

A motu proprio, literally “of his own accord,” refers to a document issued by the pope on his own initiative and personally signed by him.

The letter made changes to Pope Benedict XVI’s 2007 apostolic letter Summorum Pontificum. That 2007 letter had acknowledged the right of all priests to say the Traditional Latin Mass, and stated they did not need permission of their local ordinary to do so.

Mass according to the 1962 Roman Missal is also referred to as the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite, the Tridentine Mass, and the Traditional Latin Mass.

In their July 22 statement, the Filipino bishops said, “We reiterate the appeal of Pope Francis that ‘every liturgy be celebrated with decorum and fidelity to the liturgical books promulgated after Vatican Council II, without the eccentricities.’” 

They added that as “guardians of the tradition,” according to the title of the papal document, each bishop as “moderator, promoter, and guardian of the whole liturgical life of the particular Church” must “implement the provisions of the motu proprio with utmost care, patience, justice and pastoral charity.”

The pope’s motu proprio establishes that “the liturgical books promulgated by Saint Paul VI and Saint John Paul II, in conformity with the decrees of Vatican Council II, are the unique expression of the lex orandi [the law of prayer] of the Roman Rite.”

Quoting from the pope’s letter, the Filipino bishops said that seminarians and new priests should “be formed in the faithful observance of the prescriptions of the Missal and liturgical books, in which is reflected the liturgical reform willed by Vatican Council II.”

The bishops said the motu proprio “gives us the guidelines on the modified use of the 1962 Roman Missal.”

Since the promulgation of Traditionis custodes, some bishops from other parts of the world have said that priests may continue to offer the Traditional Latin Mass in their dioceses, while others have restricted it in some parishes or banned it outright, as in Costa Rica.

Last year, the Vatican’s doctrinal congregation asked the world’s bishops to report on how Summorum Pontificum was being applied in their dioceses, through a nine-point survey. 

“The apostolic letter is a fruit of the consultation with the Conferences of Bishops in 2020 and the recommendations made accordingly by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith,” the Filipino bishops stated on Thursday. 


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