Cardinal urges aid to Sudan’s Church not to corrupt government

Nov 10, 2006 (KÖNIGSTEIN, Germany) — Millions of dollars are being
handed over to a corrupt government instead of being given to the
Church to alleviate the suffering of the people of Sudan, Gabriel
Cardinal Zubeir Wako said.

The Archbishop of Khartoum recently told the German-based Catholic
charity Aid to the Church in Need that badly needed funds were being
wasted instead of being entrusted to responsible persons who could
genuinely attend to the needs of the population.

“Who is really aware of whom the Church is helping in Sudan? Who sees
the sufferings of the Church and what was taken away from her? We
demand that the Church be respected and trusted because she truly
serves the people,” he added.

Cardinal Zubeir Wako said despite the peace agreement of last year
hundreds of thousands of refugees were still not able to return to
their homes in South Sudan.

“It is not the state, but the Church that takes care of those
forgotten people who have to live under inhuman conditions, very close
to the Sudanese capital. Therefore, the international community must
support the Church that is a suffering Church and yet does all it can
to alleviate the misery of the people. The Muslims as well are aware
of this fact. We have suffered for decades from what the people in
Darfur are going through right now.”

Voicing concern over a lack of will to take action on part of the
international community, the Cardinal said: “They will continue to
negotiate or even remain silent and then declare that the problem is
solved.”

(CISA)