VATICAN CITY, JULY 26 (ZENIT.org).- Sudan's Foreign Affairs Minister, Mustafa Osman Ismail, was received this morning by his Vatican counterpart, Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran, Secretary for Relations with States.

    Speaking to the press, Vatican spokesman Joaquín Navarro-Valls said that "the Sudanese Minister illustrated the latest political developments carried out in the country toward a multiparty and federal system, in part for the purpose of ending the conflict that has been devastating southern Sudan for long years."

    In addition, the statement discloses diplomatically that "the meeting also became an occasion to review the situation of the Catholic Church in the country, and the way that conditions of life of the Catholic community can be improved, in order that the community may participate more actively in the development of Sudanese society."

    In a report sent to the Vatican agency "Fides," a delegation of bishops of the Southern African Bishops' Conference (SACBC), which visited Sudan from March 20-31, denounced the persecutions and insecurity in which Christians of the north and south of Sudan live. "In the settlement camps outside Khartoum, people live in homes constructed of mud bricks. Often, they are victims of indiscriminate destruction and relocation by the government," while in the south, "indiscriminate bombing of civilian targets continues unabated," the bishops' report states.

    The delegation led by Archbishop Wilfred Napier, SACBC president, visited the apital and four dioceses in liberated areas in southern Sudan. Over the past 17 years, in what is now Africa's longest war, the Khartoum-based Islamic government of Sudan has waged an offensive against the Southern People's Liberation Army (SPLA) composed primarily of persons of Christian and traditional animist religions.

    The bishops' report states that close to 2 million people have died as a result of the war, and millions of southerners are living in camps "with no access to basic services." Visiting camps at Jebel Aulia, Jabarona, and Dar el Salaam, they witnessed the "harsh conditions -- the only water is from wells located sporadically; there are no basic health or education services; there are no schools save those run by the Church." The Khartoum government has refused permission to build any new structures for education, health, or worship for the past 12 years. Yet, everywhere there are well-constructed mosques with electricity. Despite the foregoing, "government officials still maintain there is freedom of religion in Sudan," the bishops remark.

    Endless injustices are inflicted on Christians living in government-held areas. Camp residents spoke about how "women are whipped and imprisoned for brewing and selling traditional beer against the Sharia Islamic law. The beer is often their only means of making a living." The report also refers to systematic and open destruction of churches and schools. The delegation also saw the Catholic Club, located near the Khartoum airport, which was seized without compensation by the government in early 1998.

    In the south, the delegation visited Torit, Rumbek, Yei, and Yambio dioceses, where they saw the results of "indiscriminate bombing of civilian targets, which continues unabated. The use of high-flying Antonov aircraft enables the government of Sudan to hold the local population in the grip of terror. Popular targets of the bombers are churches, schools, and clinics run by the Church. The killing of 14 children attending class under a tree in the Nuba Mountains is evidence of this. The immediate aftermath of the February 8, 2000, bombing has been dramatically captured on video," noted the bishops.

    The report denounces the economic motives behind the conflict, with Khartoum systematically clearing people out of the oil-rich areas "to enable companies from Canada, Malaysia, and China, among others, to tap resources unhindered.

    A few months ago, Khartoum was the scene of a power struggle between President Omar el Baschir and fundamentalist ideologue Hassan el Tourabi. The President dissolved the Parliament presided over by Tourabi and, in early May, deposed his adversary from his post as secretary general of the National Congress (the party in power, of which Baschid was also president). After the removal of the ideologue, the President promised to carry "the process of democratization and national concord" forward. It is within this context that the Sudanese Foreign Minister's visit to the Vatican must be understood. ZE00072607

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