Church as peacemaker in the Sudan

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32880, 1 April 1972, Page 13

Church as peacemaker in the Sudan

(By the Rev.

R. M. O’GRADY.

. associate general secretary, National Council of Churches)

Many people are eating their words about the World Council of Churches. Eighteen months ago, when the W.C.C. allocated sums of money to liberation movements in southern Africa, there was an immediate outcry from white politicians in southern Africa.

A Rhodesian member of Parliament called the council “Murder Inc.” Conservative white opinion in Britain, Australia, Germany and New Zealand joined the chorus.

But last month, in one of the most dramatic peace actions in decades, the W.C.C. has silenced the critics by its show of diplomacy in the Sudan. There is a direct link between the peace agreement and the grants to liberation movements.

Many people have been aware that for the last 17 years there has been unbroken warfare in Southern Sudan. It began with the revolt of the Equatoria army when the British left Sudan in 1954. Nobody knows how many have been killed in this fighting, but reports reaching the West have told of bloody battles and vast numbers of refugees. Many millions of peasants have eked out a bare existence in the desert or as refugees in neighbouring countries. A whole generation has grown up without medicine, ravaged by disease and decimated by recurring famines and epidemics. Schooling has been unknown and the plight of several million people has been the despair of aid workers. And now suddenly there is peace. Newspapers of the world announced the settlement on February 27 last In Britain the “Observer” described it as “one of those

infrequent flashes of sanity • which illuminates international relations.” In the initial account many were surprised to notice that the World Council of Churches and the All Africa Conference of Churches- were invited to be signatories to the final peace agreement. This unusual step points to the critical work of the churches. It is safe to say that until quite recently the leadership of black Africa had lost their trust in church organisation. They realised that there were a few Christians who identified with black hopes, but for the most part Christian leaders and church missions seemed to be on the side of the white colonialists. Missionaries from America or Europe received high salaries and retained all their white customs and attitudes. The church had fallen into disfavour. In a single inspired action the World Council of Churches completely changed this attitude by giving grants for humanitarian purposes to liberation movements in many parts of the world, but particularly in Africa. The amount was small but its symbolic value cannot be counted. For the first time many of the oppressed Africans came to believe that the church really cared. The change was startling, and nowhere was it more apparent than in the Sudan. Since 1965 the W.C.C. had been trying to discuss aid programmes with the Sudan but with only limited success. In May, 1971, the Sudanese Government itself took the initiative and invited the World Council and the All Africa Conference of Churches to visit Khartoum to discuss both aid and reconciliation. It stated without reserve that it was now prepared to let the churches begin an aid programme, but even more significantly it asked the churches to make contact with the Southern leaders so that talks could begin. From then until January, 1972, there was a flurry of movement, the conditions for the talks being discussed and relayed through church leaders. One of the long-time friends of the W.C.C., Emperor Haile Selassie agreed to preside over the meetings in Addis Ababa. The meeting took place in February at the time when the W.C.C. was meeting in Auckland. It was known at the meeting that the W.C.C. Director of International Affairs, Dr Niilus, was called to the meeting at Addis Ababa and this prevented him coming to New Zealand. At Addis Ababa both sides abandoned their previous fixed positions to make an agreement possible. The North abandoned its wish for an Islamic Republic and the

South withdrew its aim of succession. Instead there will be a new federal-type constitution with a national assembly. Southern security will be in the hands of the Southerners themselves. As a sign of the confidence enjoyed by the two church bodies they were asked to sign as witnesses to the final agreement, an action which probably has no historical precedent. It was pointed out that this did not make the churches guarantors of the agreement which must be in the hands of the Sudanese authorities. The task of reconstruction will be a major one for the churches and other agencies. The resettlement of over 200,000 refugees will be followed by the erection of schools, hospitals and general housing. A massive reconstruction programme to improve agriculture and create employment opportunities has been outlined by the W.C.C. A war prevented is less news than a war in which the major nations are involved. The Sudan will not be mentioned in the same breath as Biafra, Vietnam and Bangladesh. The horror has been stopped and in a world where bad news predominates a small candle of hope has been lit. In acknowledging the work of the churches Emperor Haile Selassie thanked the W.C.C. at the conference table. “As instruments of God, you have carried out His will for peace and justice,” he said. “You were able to bring two brothers together again. What joy is there more than this? What you have done is of lasting value.”