Church identifies with the poorest in Sudan: Catholic Worker Peace Team visits the war-torn Darfur region

National Catholic Reporter, Jan 7, 2005 by Scott Schaeffer-Duffy

Editor's note: The following is a first-person account of a trip to Sudan by Scott Schaeffer-Duffy, who traveled to the country with a Catholic Worker Peace Team Dec. 4-13.

St. Joseph's Church in Nyala is virtually invisible. It is nestled inside a nondescript cinderblock garage on a dirt road less than a block away from an impressive mosque whose minaret can be seen for a mile. Christians represent less than 5 percent of Darfur's population. Fr. Denima Emmanuel, the associate pastor of St. Joseph's, explained that the Islamic government in Khartoum has so far refused to grant permission for the construction of a proper church. This was just the one of many surprises waiting for me as I had my first direct encounter with the Catholic church in Africa.

Based on my experience wire two rather reserved African clerics assigned to my home parish in Worcester, Mass., I expected the African church to be formal and conservative. Although I carried a laudatory letter of introduction from my bishop, I worried that my newest pair of work pants and button shirt, worn for my first meeting with Father Denima, would be inadequately respectful. When the priest emerged dressed in a festive African shirt, I was so taken aback that I asked, "Can I take your picture?" I assumed that I'd caught him in a casual moment and might never see him dressed this way again. He smiled at me. When I saw him clad in the same shirt the following day, I knew why. This was no kiss-the-priest's-hand kind of Catholicism. Father Denima was one with his people.

I should have anticipated just such an easygoing clergyperson from my experience two days earlier in Khartoum where Chris Doucot, Brenna Cussen, Grace Ritter and I met with leaders of the Sudanese Catholic Bishops' Conference and the Sudan Council of Churches. The assistant secretary general of the council, Fr. Achille Tong, also wore lay clothing and greeted our Catholic Worker Peace Team with the broadest smile I have ever seen. After listening to a brief description of our humanitarian and pacifist goals, he immediately volunteered to help secure the almost-impossible-to-obtain government permits we needed to get into Darfur. The secretary general, Francis Bassan, made long-distance efforts to arrange additional permits for us to pass through army checkpoints to reach the massive Kalma refugee camp outside Nyala.

"The two Catholic representatives of the Sudan Council of Churches, who must remain anonymous for their own protection, were activists who have been jailed and exiled repeatedly for their opposition to the government. When asked about the crisis in Darfur, they acknowledged the humanitarian need being fulfilled by nongovernmental organizations, but bemoaned the lack of attention to addressing the "root causes of the conflict."

They were also working for "the empowerment of women." Their pamphlet said, "The new vision of the National Women's Programme is to realize a gender inclusive, prosperous, just, peaceful and godly Sudan."

The council activists came from Sudan's war-torn south where Catholic bishops have made peace and justice central to their faith. In 1992, Bishop Paride Taban was held as a prisoner of war for 300 days. Even after his release, he remained with the other prisoners to feed and serve them. In 2002, Bishop Rudolph Deng Majak said, "With war, everything shrinks and collapses ... with peace, everything expands and grows." Like Father Denima, both bishops speak for and identify with the poorest of the Sudanese.

At the parish level in Darfur, we encountered programs for women. Ministries at St. Joseph's Church include providing medical services and establishing cooperative employment for internally displaced women who have moved into the town. Only Catholic schools are coeducational in Darfur. Catholics are also leaders in opposition to polygamy as well as opponents of female circumcision.

I saw one striking young woman clad in a native dress colorfully celebrating the jubilee year. The garment featured images of Sudanese saints, bishops, and laypeople rejoicing over the forgiveness of debt. It included a picture of an African mother, father and child under the heading "God's family."

Catholic social services are not exclusive. The majority of those served are Muslims. The council gives new teachers, regardless of their religion, sturdy bicycles to get around town in Nyala. Although there are no Christians inside the Dereig camp for internally displaced people, council leader Ezbon Kenyi is fighting government opposition to open a school there.

In the past, Catholic open-handedness might have been part of a colonialist scheme to demean indigenous religion and collect souls for Holy Mother Church, but under Sharia (Islamic law) anything resembling proselytism is forbidden. Education, health care and empowerment programs seemed to be undertaken without a hidden agenda. One of the council activists said the conflict in Darfur has helped highlight the church's integrity because its appeals for justice in Southern Sudan seemed self-serving, since that region has many Catholics, whereas this cannot be said in Darfur, where the oppressed population is almost exclusively Muslim.