El Obeid, 24 December, 2025 / 1:46 AM
In a country battered by violence, displacement and fear, the 2025 Christmas message of Bishop Yunan Tombe Trille Kuku Andali of Sudan’s Catholic Diocese of El-Obeid emerges as a testimony of faith spoken from within war itself.
Repeating the biblical refrain, “Do not be afraid,” Bishop Trille addresses the people of God in Sudan while naming their suffering and the fragile hope still carried by the celebration of Christmas.
“We celebrate the Solemnity of Christmas, news of great joy animated by the Messengers of God,” Bishop Trille writes, recalling the angels who sang, “Glory to God in the highest heaven and on earth peace for those he favours.”
For him, the Christmas proclamation is rooted in God’s fidelity, since “the birth of Christ is the manifestation of the glory of our God,” revealing His promise of salvation and peace for the whole of creation.
This peace, the Sudanese Catholic Bishop stresses, is not selective; it is “the Peace that God bestows on earth and the whole Creation in the person of the baby Jesus laying in the manger,” a peace offered “to all people without exception.”
Through Christ’s birth, he explains, “the gate of Heaven is opened for us,” and reconciliation becomes possible because “the birth of Christ opens the way for our reconciliation with our Creator.”
Sudan’s civil war broke out on 15 April 2023. The violent conflict is between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the paramilitary force under General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, and army units of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) that are loyal to the head of Sudan's transitional governing Sovereign Council, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
It started in Sudan’s capital city, Khartoum, before becoming a full-fledged civil war in the entire Northeastern African nation. It has reportedly resulted in the death of “as many as one hundred and fifty thousand people”; well over 14 million people have been displaced, including to unstable countries such as Chad, Ethiopia, and South Sudan, where they have reportedly overrun refugee camps.
With some 30.4 million people in need of humanitarian aid in Sudan, reportedly more than half of country’s population, Sudan has arguably the highest number of people in need ever recorded; the highest number of internally displaced globally, more than 12 million having fled violence in the country in the last two years.
Sudan has also the highest number of people in emergency or catastrophic levels of hunger, “with over 600,000 people living in famine, and 8 million others on the cliff edge”, according to an April 2025 report.
In his 2025 Christmas message, Bishop Trille situates Christmas within the ongoing war, his words conveying both the duration of the conflict and its painful intimacy, as violence fractures families and communities.
He says, “Do not be afraid, we celebrate Christmas in the third year of conflict, where we continue to fight ourselves, brothers, sisters, relatives; Sudanese killing each other with showers of drones and bombs falling upon ourselves. Hence, loss of lives and properties.”
Reflecting on the contrast between faith and fear, Bishop Trille asks why “we Sudanese, who are supposed to be determined in looking forward with faith and solidarity with Jesus this Christmas season, find ourselves living and keeps us in fear and darkness.”
He acknowledges the sense of marginalization many feel, noting, “Like the shepherds sometimes, we seem to be marginalized in the sight of this world,” and reaffirms that “in reality we are not forgotten by our God.”
The repeated call “Do not be afraid” becomes a summon to prayer and responsibility. “Peace is born!” the Local Ordinary of El Obeid proclaims, and emphasizes that this peace “is to be implored and prayed for. For God alone is its source and guarantee.”
He urges the people of God to persevere amid hardship, hoping for “a new humanity united not just by economic interests, party and political positions or ethnic interests,” but grounded in justice and mutual support.
Turning to the situation of his Episcopal See, the Local Ordinary of El Obeid since his Episcopal Consecration in April 2017 paints a sobering picture of a Church caught in the conflict.
“Our diocese in Kordofan has become the battle ground after Darfur,” he says, adding that a” number of its parishes are deserted and desecrated.” The impact on pastoral life is severe, he laments, and explains, “There are no priests to celebrate Sacred Sacraments for the faithful.”
Even so, Bishop Trille insists that Christmas remains meaningful. “With trust, Christmas is a religious and spiritual occasion, granting us the reason to rejoice because the Saviour is born for us and peace to us, who enjoy his favour.”
He draws a parallel between the manger and Sudan’s humanitarian crisis, saying, “Seeing the baby Jesus in the manger describes the situation of all those of us in our country who remain without shelter and in fear.”
Christ, he continues, “is born into the world’s largest displacement crisis, with millions of people in need of assistance.” This reality is visible everywhere, as “we see and hear stories of women, children and elderly and large numbers of communities displaced from their homes, their life reduced to poverty and misery,” he testifies.
Against such suffering, the Sudanese Bishop expresses concern over the language of war, observing that “our leaders continue saying; we fight to the last person! A situation of a despair as it is.”
Still, Bishop Trille urges his people not to surrender to hopelessness. “Let us not despair or be overcome by what obscures our future and the future of our country,” he writes, calling Sudanese back to hope inspired by the birth of Christ.
The “news of great joy and peace preached by the angels,” he insists, “is to be shared by all people without discrimination.”
(Story continues below)
The Best Catholic News - straight to your inbox
Sign up for our free ACI Africa newsletter.
His Christmas message also calls for inclusive dialogue as a path toward peace. Bishop Trille says the Gospel “encourages our inclusive dialogue between all Sudanese without discrimination,” and urges engagement with “women, youth, and diverse civil society groups.”
He affirms that “we are sons and daughters of our Sudanese parents and are to be included in decision-making for lasting peace.”
As Sudan approaches the 70th anniversary of independence in 2026, Bishop Trille makes a pastoral appeal rooted in compassion and faith. He calls the people of God to see themselves as “brothers and sisters in solidarity; weeping with parents and relatives of those who morn the killed,” and to remember the words of Jesus: “whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.”
Gathering testimony, prayer and hope together, he appeals, “Let us make our hearts the manger where the Baby Jesus can live to help us renew our lives and live peace.”
Spoken from within war, Bishop Trille’s repeated refrain remains both reassurance and challenge to Sudan and the world: “Do not be afraid.”
Our mission is the truth. Join us!
Your monthly donation will help our team continue reporting the truth, with fairness, integrity, and fidelity to Jesus Christ and his Church.
Donate to CNA