By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
KHARTOUM (Worthy News) – Christians in Sudan say believers displaced by war have been prevented from celebrating Christmas in a park where they had taken refuge.
The news came amid ongoing deadly clashes between paramilitaries and Sudan’s army, which has also seen the destruction of many churches in the Northeast African nation.
In the Northern state’s town of Wadi Halfa, internally displaced Christians were reportedly “shocked” when security officials at the park where they set up make-shift shelters told them they “needed permission” to hold a December 25 Christmas service.
Pastor Mugadam Shraf Aldin Hassan of the United Church of Smyrna said that was contrary to what National Security authorities had previously told them.
Security officials at the park reportedly told the church that Christian activities “were not allowed in Muslim areas” without a prior written approval.
Christians said the church had asked for permission on December 21 to celebrate Christmas in the park.
DEMANDING APPROVAL
Pastor Hassan told Christian news agency Morning Star News (MSN) that an official had given “verbal approval” but instructed them “to refrain from using microphones and other sound system equipment. ”
However, he was quoted as saying that on the day of the celebration, security officials demanded written approval.
Authorities ordered him and another pastor to report to a military special forces office, where they were interrogated and their notebooks searched, he said.
To obtain written approval, the church wrote three letters – one from an inter-church committee in Wadi Halfa and the two from the United Church of Smyrna – seeking permission to hold a Christmas service, sing Christmas carols, and celebrate the New Year, but authorities did not respond, Pastor Hassan said.
The incident is the latest in a series of attacks against the Christian minority in the mainly Muslim nation, which is engulfed in violence.
Since Monday, at least 120 people were reported to have been killed in random shelling in the Dar-Salam area of the Sudanese city of Omdurman, across the Nile from the capital, Khartoum, Worthy News monitored.
TOLL RISING
The Ombada Emergency Response Room said the death toll was provisional, suggesting that the number of victims could rise.
Sudan’s civil war, now 21 months old, has killed tens of thousands, uprooted over 12 million, and pushed the country to the brink of famine in what the United Nations describes as one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters.
Since April 2023, militants of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been battling the army, known as the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF).
Each Islamist force has attacked displaced Christians on accusations of supporting the other’s combatants, Christians say.
“Christians are also experiencing exceptional hardship in the hunger crisis because local communities discriminate against them and won’t give them support,” added Christian advocacy group Open Doors.
Tensions have risen as the army in Sudan captured a key central city in recent days, one of its most significant gains yet in an almost two-year-long war against rebel forces.
ARMY CELEBRATING
Footage on social media showed people celebrating in the streets as army soldiers entered the city of Wad Madani.
RSF leader General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, acknowledged the loss in an audio message. Listeners said his admission was angry and rambling as he attributed the defeat to the army’s air superiority and use of Iranian-made drones.
But in a worrying sign to Christians and others, he vowed to continue fighting until victory, even if it took another 20 years.
The pledge of more violence came after more than 100 churches, Christian buildings, and even private homes belonging to Christians were forcibly occupied during the country’s ongoing conflict, according to Christians familiar with the situation.
“There has been a spike in the abduction and killing of Christian men by radical Islamic groups. Church leaders are targeted by false charges, including terrorism and apostasy, despite the apostasy law being abolished in 2020,” noted Open Doors.
Additionally, “Converts from Islam face violence, imprisonment, forced marriage, rejection, sexual violence, disinheritance, and losing custody of their children. Many are forced to flee their homes or feel that staying is unsustainable.”
Open Doors has ranked Sudan 5th on its annual World Watch List of 50 nations, where it says Christians face the most persecution for their faith.
The Christian population of Sudan is estimated at 2 million, or 4.5 percent of the total population of more than 43 million.
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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