Pope urges bishops to encourage peace prospects in Sudan

VATICAN CITY, Dec 15, 2003 (AP) — Calling it a “decisive moment” for Sudan, Pope John Paul II urged Sudanese bishops on Monday to encourage the country’s new peace initiative, which aims to end Africa’s longest-running war.

In comments to the bishops, the pope noted what he called a “tentative opening” in peace prospects with the presence of Christians in the Muslim-led government, as well as the reactivation of a commission for interreligious dialogue.

The Muslim-led government in Khartoum has battled for two decades with autonomy-seeking rebels in the Christian and animist south. The United States has entered the mix to try to get a settlement, saying it will normalize relations with Sudan and lift sanctions if peace is achieved.

John Paul said he was greeting the visiting bishops “at this decisive moment for your country, as two decades of violent conflict and bloodshed seem poised to give way to reconciliation and pacification.”

He told them to encourage the peace process “even as you insist that religious pluralism, as guaranteed by the Sudanese constitution, should be respected.”

In his other comments, the pope told the bishops they must do more to educate young priests, particularly in the need for chastity.

“Scandalous behavior must at all times be investigated, confronted and corrected,” he said.

He didn’t elaborate, but the church in Africa has been beset by allegations of sexual misdeeds by priests.