El Obeid, 02 September, 2025 / 11:10 PM
Pope Leo XIV has expressed his spiritual solidarity with all persons affected by the August 31 landslide that reportedly wiped out Tarsin village in Sudan’s Central Darfur region, killing at least 1,000 people.
In a Tuesday, September 2 telegram addressed to Bishop Yunan Tombe Trille Kuku Andali of Sudan’s Catholic Diocese of El Obeid, the Holy Father says he “was deeply saddened to learn of the devastation caused by the landslide” and assures “everyone affected by this disaster of his spiritual closeness.”
“Praying especially for the eternal rest of the dead, for those who mourn their loss, and for the rescue of the many persons still missing, His Holiness offers encouragement to the civil authorities and emergency personnel in their ongoing relief efforts,” the telegram that the Vatican Secretary of State, Pietro Cardinal Parolin, signed reads in part.
Cardinal Parolin says that the Holy Father “willingly invokes upon the nation the divine blessings of consolation and strength.”
On September 2, the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army, a Sudanese rebel group active in the Darfur region, appealed for foreign help in recovering bodies and rescuing residents from torrential rain, after it said that at least 1,000 people had been killed when a landslide buried a mountain village, Reuters reported.
The report indicates that only one person survived the landslide.
“Tarsin, famed for its citrus production, has now been completely levelled to the ground,” the group said in a statement.
In its September 2 report, Reuters says that “continuing rains have made travel in the region difficult and could impede any rescue or aid efforts.”
“Nearby villagers are overwhelmed with fear that a similar fate might befall them if the ... torrential rainfall persists, which underscores the urgent need for a comprehensive evacuation plan and provision of emergency shelter,” the group's leader, Abdelwahid Mohamed Nur, has been quoted as saying.
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