Sudan Cathedral linked to Diocese of Salisbury attacked
42 people managed to escape
People living at the Episcopal Church in Sudan, which is part of the Salisbury-Sudan partnership, have been forced to flee after the Cathedral was attacked.
Days of violence between the Sudan Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Force (RSF) has caused widespread terror.
Ian Woodward, chair of the Salisbury-Sudan link, has been in contact with Archbishop Ezekiel, Primate of the Episcopal Church, and told us of the terrifying scenes the archbishop faced.
“He was in his cathedral a week ago when the cathedral compound was attacked by forces from the RSF. They broke into the compound and damaged motor cars and broke into buildings,” Mr Woodward explained.
“He had to flee and he managed to escape with 42 of his people, including his family, traveling through bombed out streets and buildings on fire and so on. And I've been able to speak to him not quite every day, but to every other day. He is now a little bit safer.”
The situation is still dire, with food, water and electricity scarce, with assistance from outside the country difficult to come by. Mr Woodward said that without aid, there is going to be “terrible” loss of life
Mr Woodward added that one of the most frustrating barriers to aid was that the bank service had collapsed, but while they are “disarmed” in being able to help, prayers had been ongoing.
He said: “The first thing we can do, of course, is hold them in our prayers constantly and all of our churches yesterday were in in Wiltshire and in Dorset were praying for this relief of this terrible situation.”