Christianity in Sudan

A fresco showing the birth of Jesus, in Faras cathedral

Reconstruction of a church in Old Dongola

Christianity reached the area of present-day northern Sudan, then called Nubia, by the first century after Christ. By tradition it was St. Matthew the Apostle was said to have visited the region and been active in the establishment of the church south of Aswan.[1] It greatly developed under the influence of the bishops of Alexandria and missionaries form the Eastern Roman Empire.[2] Indeed, Byzantine architecture influenced most of the Christian churches in lower Nubia.[3]

The Byzantine Emperor Justinian I (reigned 527 to 565) helped to made Nubia a stronghold of Christianity during the Middle Ages by securing the region with strategic alliances.[4] By 580 AD Christianity had become the official religion of the northern Sudan, centered around the Faras cathedral.[5]

During the 19th century, British missionaries re-introduced the Christian faith into South Sudan. British imperial authorities somewhat arbitrarily limited missionary activity to the multi-ethnic southern region.[6] The Church of England and other parts of the Anglican Communion continued to send missionaries and other assistance after the country became independent in 1956, although that also precipitated decades of civil war and persecutions as discussed below.

At the 2011 division which split off South Sudan, over 97% of the population in Sudan in the north, adheres to Islam.[7] Religions followed by the South Sudanese include traditional indigenous religions, Christianity and Islam.[8][9] The last census to mention the religion of southerners dates back to 1956 where a majority were classified as following traditional beliefs or were Christian while 18% were Muslim.[10]

Scholarly[11][12][13] and some U.S. Department of State sources[14] state that a majority of southern Sudanese maintain traditional indigenous animist beliefs.

The majority of Christians in Sudan adhere to the Coptic Orthodox, Roman Catholic church or to the Anglican churches (represented by the Episcopal Church of the Sudan), but there are several other small denominations represented there including:

• Africa Inland Church
• Apostolic Church
• Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria
• Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church
• Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church
• Greek Orthodox Church
• International church of the Nazarene
• Jehovah's Witnesses[15]
• New Apostolic
• Presbyterian Church of the Sudan
• Seventh Day Adventist Church
• Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church
• Sudan Pentecostal Church
• Sudan Interior Church
• Sudan Church of Christ

Roman Catholic missionaries began work in Sudan in 1842; both Anglicans and American Presbyterians began in Sudan in 1899. The Anglicans through the Church Missionary Society had their base in Omdurman, while the Presbyterians began in Khartoum but developed ministry both in the north and in the south. The Sudan Interior Mission began working in the country in 1937. The Africa Inland Mission launched the Africa Inland Church in 1949. In 1964 all foreign missionaries were made to leave southern Sudan because of the civil war. A few groups maintained missionaries in the north. The Sudan Pentecostal Church, which has grown significantly in the south, was started later by the Swedish.

As of 2011, prior to the independence of South Sudan, about 2,009,374 Sudanese practiced Roman Catholicism, mainly in the south (5% of the population were devout Roman Catholics). Nine catholic dioceses include two archdioceses in modern Sudan,[16] with five Cathedrals.[17] The patron saint of the Sudan is the former slave Saint Josephine Bakhita, canonized in 2000.

About 100,000 people or 0.25% of the population belong to various Protestant denominations in northern Sudan. Catholicism is practised by some thousand followers north of Sudan's capital. A 2015 study estimates some 30,000 Muslim converted to Christianity in Sudan, most of them belonging to some form of Protestantism.[18]

In 2019, the civilian cabinet of Sudan marked Christmas as an official public holiday for the first time in 10 years since the secession of South Sudan from northern Sudan under president Omar al-Bashir.

Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation, Khartoum

Pope Francis visited South Sudan in February 2023. On the final day of his pilgrimage to the country, the pontiff delivered a powerful message of peace and reconciliation, calling on the people of South Sudan to lay down their weapons of hatred. The visit was well received by the largely Christian population, who hoped for change in a country struggling with conflict and poverty.[19][20]