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SUDAN
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SUDAN

Country:
SUDAN

About Christian persecution in Sudan

Sudan has been a hard country in which to a be a Christian for decades. Riven perpetually by civil war, the majority of Sudan’s independence era has been under military rule, most recently when Omar Al Bashir took power in 1989. His thirty year rule was marked by Islamic extremism, including allowing clerics such as Hasan Al Turabi (who invited and mentored Osama Bin Laden to the state) to introduce hardline Islam to the whole country. Yet al-Bashir was deposed in a people’s revolution in 2019 and the new transitional government sought to remove some of the oppression era rules. The infamous Blasphemy law was repealed, Sharia law was shelved, and Islam was removed as the country’s official religion.

This joy was short lived as in October 2021 Sudanese politics reverted to type, and a military dictator, al Burhan, took over. The so called “deep state” Islamists appointed by Bashir have returned to prominence. The primary trouble for persecuted Christians today is survival in the light of a brutal civil war between General Burhan and General Hemedti which broke out in April 2023, and has left 10,000 dead and 5.6 million displaced. The conflict is not over religion, but over the division of wealth – both crave access to the gold reserves of the country. Even if a peace treaty is agreed between them, most Christians do not believe much will improve in the country itself.

5%

of the population is Christian

Matthew

the Apostle is traditionally thought to have come to this region

Leadership:

Lieutenant-General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan

Population

48.1 M

Christian pop.

2 M

“The ray of hope is that in chaos, God comes close, and more and more people are crying to him and experiencing his love in the midst of suffering. That has been our story for decades, but it is a “fast-forward” story today as we are seeing very rapid growth in our membership.”

CHRISTIAN PASTOR IN SOUTH MALI

History of Christianity

Christianity has a long history in Africa’s third largest country. Coptic Christianity reached the territory as early as the 2nd century, and there is even a tradition that St Matthew the Apostle came to the region even earlier. Today however the country is over 90% Islamic, especially after the secession of the largely Christian southern part of the country in 2011 into the separate state of South Sudan.

Still, Christians remain about 5% of the population. Copts and Catholics form the majority, but Protestants are a considerable minority and there is a sizable though secret Muslim Background Believer church. Christians are traditionally concentrated in the capital Khartoum and the more mountainous south of the country.

Stories from SUDAN

March 1, 2024

Persecuted Sudanese believer escapes death threats from family

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December 15, 2023

Persecuted Christian from Sudan ministers to family

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September 28, 2023

Persecuted Sudanese Christians receive death threats after conversion

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