We recently received the translated version of the French article written by France24’s Caroline Dumay, published in Le Figaro on April 28, 2016.
The original story can be found here:
Le Figaro
Thursday, April 28, 2016
page 10 : CHAMPS LIBRES: ENQUETE
In South Sudan, a Muslim’s Cathedral Dream
By: Caroline Dumay, special envoy in Torit (South Sudan)
Highlighted excerpts:
“Originally from Khartoum, Rudwan Dawod, who lives in the United States, has sworn
as a Muslim to rebuild the cathedral of Torit, in a South Sudan ravaged by religious and
ethnic wars. His mission of reconciliation has already gathered a number of supporters,
but Dawod thinks he can convince the Pope.”
“What Rudwan is doing is a gesture towards the other which we must accept to be
reconciled…. The Pope cannot but approve our project.”
— Mgr.Thomas Oliha, Apostolic Administrator of Diocese of Torit
Text of the article:
“I never killed, stole, or raped. I am not guilty of the massacres perpetrated by my
people in South Sudan. But I have a moral responsibility and I want to assist you.” In
these words, Rudwan Dawod, a Northern Sudanese Muslim, addressed the parish council
of Torit (Eastern Equatoria), 150 kilometers southeast of Juba. A native of Khartoum, this
Sudanese student got it into his head to rebuild the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul,
which was destroyed by the Islamic regime during the civil war. He envisions recruiting
Muslims, as well as Christians and Jews, in this slightly hare-brained ecumenical project,
located more than five hours by washed-out roads from the capital of South Sudan.
In a country having a hard time emerging from decades of warfare, Rudwan
Dawod is convinced that religious reconciliation among the Sudanese peoples is possible.
His initiative comes at a moment when the armed forces are taking a small step towards
peace. The head of the South Sudanese rebellion, Riek Machar, arrived in Juba from exile
Tuesday to form a transition government with President Salva Kiir. In accordance with
the peace agreement of August 26, 2015, the fraternal enemies will share power during a
30-month transition period, after which elections will be held.
The world’s youngest republic was born July 9, 2011 from the conflict between
the Christian south and the Muslim north. It fell back into civil war in December 2013,
producing 300,000 deaths and two and a half million displaced persons. The violence
which the nine million South Sudanese have suffered for the past two years, fed by ethnic
dissension between the Dinkas of President Salva Kiir and the Nuer people who support
his rival Riek Machar, has nothing to do with the preceding war. But it has pressed into
the collective subconscious the same feeling of distrust towards “strangers”.
Country with a tortured history
On the day when Rudwan Dawod got to Torit, the parish priest was teaching the
catechism under a framework with corrugated metal roofing. Scarred by fighting, the
cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul still stands at the end of the main highway. No one has
had the heart to rebuild it. Dressed in an immaculate white suit, among the faithful
wearing rags and seated on makeshift benches, the Muslim was assuring them, “Your
worship place is going to be rebuilt.” The children watched doubtfully.
“I don’t know what they told them during the war about North Sudanese, but it is
time to turn the page,” he told us after the ceremony. In South Sudan, turning the page
does not come naturally. Rudwan knows well the country’s tortured history. Like many
North Sudanese from Darfur, he studied at Juba University. “When I started in political
science in 2002, I had a lot of preconceived ideas about these Christian people who
always opposed the Arab-Muslim peoples”, the young Muslim confides. “For a long time
I was opposed to the independence of South Sudan.”
Rudwan realizes the struggle he went through to shake his Muslim indoctrination.
In the end he became part of the Christian community. He even married an American
volunteer, Nancy, whom he met in class at Juba University. “Nancy is a Christian, but I
never tried to convert her,” he says. Then he fell in love with Torit, a town on the
Ugandan border where Christians and Muslims more or less get along. This is the place
where conforntations between the religious communities first broke out in 1955. The
outskirts of the village are one immense cemetery where soldiers from both sides are
buried.
To make his good will believable, Rudwan has frequently recounted his personal
and political saga. He was one of the first militants against the regime of Sudanese
president Omar al Bashir, whose arrest has been ordered for genocide and war crimes in
Darfur by the International Criminal Court. With his Grifna (“Fed up”) Liberation
Movement he participated in the Sudanese stirrings of summer 2012. But the Khartoum
demonstrations were put down with blood. Rudwan was arrested July 3, 2012 and
tortured while in prison for 45 days. Extradited by the American embassy, he barely
escaped the death penalty. Since then he has lived in the U.S. with his wife and 3-year-
old daughter.
“I have lost twelve members of my family the successive civil wars. But we
cannot continue to hate one another!” says Mgr. Thomas Oliha. The apostolic
administrator does not hide the fact that the Christian majority found Rudwan’s initiative
quite suspect. “But what Rudwan is doing is to make a human gesture, a gesture towards
the other which we must accept in order to be reconciled,” he says. The prelate is
sufficiently taken with the young Muslim’s personality that he has promised to speak to
Pope Francis about it. “After all, this is the Year of Mercy and Pardon. The Pope cannot
but approve our project.” the churchman concludes. A South Sudanese delegation has
carried this message to the Vatican. Rudwan Dawod dreams of obtaining an audience
with the Holy Father.
If Rudwan’s initiative obtains the Vatican’s support, many doors will open. The
architecture department of the Catholic University of America has already offered its
services free of charge. Above all, the American NGO which supports the project will
more easily find funds. “This project is expected to run into hundreds of thousands of
dollars. We know we are taking a big risk, but the spiritual value of this effort makes it
worthwhile,” stress the Reverend Tom Prichard, founding president of Sudan Sunrise.
Tom Prichard is known in Juba chiefly for his association with Manute Bol. Bol was the
tallest American basketball player and devoted a large part of his time and income to his
birthplace, Sudan. Sudan Sunrise also has a relationship with Imam Mohamed Magid,
president of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA). This religious leader,
originally from North Sudan, who has on several occasions advised the White House on
Islamic matters, is one of the strongest backers of the project.
Urgent need for food aid
In a country where the first priority remains survival, finding a million dollars to
reconstruct a cathedral seems out of place. But in South Sudan, where everything is
lacking, nothing is ever refused. Where the only solid buildings are for governments, the
slightest effort is welcome. The last two years’ fighting have had less impact than the war
against North Sudan. “The two main ethnic groups who have been killing each other, the
Dinkas and the Nuers, are not from around here. It’s been fairly calm. What we mainly
suffer from is our people’s poverty,” observes Joseph Lagura, the diocesan secretary.
Last March 15 civil society informed the local press that 50 people had died of starvation
at Magwi, Ikwoto, Lopa, and Lafon. The Torit region is not an isolated case. Over 6
million Sudanese are in urgent need of food assistance.
Rudwan Dawod is still a long ways from being able to lay the first stone, but his
idea is gradually making its way. After having persuaded the Diocese of Torit and
planned the initial fundraising with Sudan Sunrise, he will have to find the Muslim
volunteers to participate hands-on in the reconstruction of the cathedral. The idea is to
start with a core group which will begin to mobilize both in South Sudan and in the
diaspora.
Before his return to the USA, Rudwan Dawod got together with his friends in the
courtyard of the Yam Hotel in the South Sudanese capital. The students were telling him
straight out of the difficulty they encountered in recruiting volunteers. “My father told me
I will go to hell if I eat with Christians,” said a female student wearing a scarf. A young
male student replied, “Mine told me he would kill me if I took part in the reconstruction
of this cathedral.” “If it’s hard for you to convince Christians, we too will need time to
convince Muslims. They are very conservative here,” explained his cousin Yacoub,
owner of a computer service stall in Nyokonyoko market. Yacoub had just finished
deleting from his Facebook page one more church burned by a Muslim. This sort of
incident continues regularly in South Sudan.
Unmoved, Rudwan Dawod listened attentively to these reports. He has promised
prospective volunteers that their security on the worksite will be assured. On a continent
where sympathizers with the Islamic State are growing in number, it is risky to get
labeled a traitor. “Some people think I am not a true Muslim, that I am a Christian
wearing a disguise. That is ridiculous,” says Rudwan. “My faith remains unchanged. I
practice it daily. But for me, this is true Islam. All religions should have one message: the
message of Peace.”
Translated from French by: Richard J. Jones