SUDAN: Who tried to kill Cardinal Wako?

By John Pontifex

Cardinal Gabriel Zubeir Wako of Khartoum, Sudan

An attempt on the life of Sudan’s Cardinal Gabriel Zubeir Wako could be linked to a campaign of intimidation against Christians in the run-up to all-important referendum, according to a bishop from the country.

Bishop Eduardo Hiiboro Kussala, from South Sudan, described a possible link between the attempted stabbing of Cardinal Wako and an extremist movement aimed at keeping Sudan united and undermining Christian influence, especially in the north of the country.

The bishop’s comments come three days after a man advanced towards the cardinal brandishing a dagger during an outdoor Mass in the capital, Khartoum. The Mass was to mark the anniversary of the death of Sudan’s patron, Saint Daniel Comboni,.

The cardinal’s ‘Master of Ceremonies’ Barnaba Matnec Anei, who was standing nearby, ran and grabbed the man and handed him over to the police.

Bishop Hiiboro, who made his comments on the eve of a visit to the UK to highlight problems facing the Church in Sudan, said: “Of course, we don’t know yet whether the armed man was acting alone or if others were involved.

"But it would seem entirely possible that what he did was part of a wider campaign of intimidation against the Church, and that the timing of the attack was very specific.

“For those with extreme views, it would of course be a good thing to kill a leader like the cardinal. He has been targeted many times but he has always maintained a very strong faith. He is a very strong man.

“Also such extremists would clearly wish to send out a signal to the wider Christian community – especially to southerners living in the north – warning them that the Church should not become a rallying point for dissent in the run-up to the referendum.”

He went on to appeal for calm, warning that the threat on the cardinal’s life could cause emotions to run high, destabilising the country in the run-up to the referendum.

Bishop Hiiboro said: “The decision we are going to take [at the referendum] should be an act founded on freedom of conscience.

"It is important for all Sudanese to control their emotions and be guided by reason and a desire to preserve peace.”

Meantime, in an account of the incident which took place in Khartoum’s Comboni Play Ground, Mr Anei told media in Sudan that the man might have entered the Comboni Play Ground very early on, before the security staff arrived to check people through as they went in for the Mass.

Mr Anei said the case was being handled by the police and that the Catholic Church would be following up enquiries with the civic authorities.

Bishop Hiiboro said the assassination attempt coincided with an increasingly militant stance taken by President Omar al-Bashir’s regime in Khartoum.

The bishop, whose diocese of Tombura-Yambio is in the extreme south of Sudan, stressed the importance of a statement by the Khartoum regime’s minister of Information. He announced two weeks ago that southerners living in the north – especially Christians – would be under threat of persecution if they failed to vote for unity in the upcoming referendum, due in January.

Bishop Hiiboro also highlighted a statement by President Bashir himself who declared yesterday (Tuesday, 12^th October) that his regime would not “accept an alternative to unity”, and went on to warn of a return to civil war.

The bishop, who underlined how previously President Bashir had said he would accept the referendum whatever the outcome, said: “We are getting scared about what will happen. We need to work for peace and avoid conflict if at all possible.”

Bishop Eduardo Hiiboro Kussala will be the keynote speaker at Aid to the Church in Need’s Hope Without Fear events this weekend, which take place in Westminster, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

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