The Old Catholic Church Support Sudanese Peace Treaty Ending 21 Years of War

    /24-7PressRelease/ - May 29, 2005 - The Free Catholic Church of Europe in conjunction with the Old Catholic Church of Great Britain, The Interdenominational Church of the Holy Lands and the OSMTH Magistral Grand Priory of the Holy Lands Christian Charity have set about a joint plan to aid the displaced Sudanese that are now returning to their homeland after the 21 year war has ended with a peace agreement.

The Old Catholic Church representative, Archbishop Gary Beaver, stated that "the Norwegian government is providing returnees in two camps with materials to construct grass-thatched houses. The United Nations refugee agency reports that about 200,000 non-registered refugees and 400,000 internally displaced people have already returned to their homes in southern Sudan since late last year."

When asked what the Old Catholic Church alliance were planning, Archbishop Gary Beaver commented "at the top of the list of the many challenges facing those returning home is a lack of sanitation and clean drinking water, live landmines strewn all over the southern Sudan landscape and education for the children. We must remember that the refugees are returning to a country with very little or no social services and local government service infrastructure. It is these areas that we are dedicating our church alliance focus, in order to alleviate the suffering and help make their villages a safe and healthy environment once again.

International donors recently pledged more than $4 billion for post-war reconstruction in Sudan, with the United States promising about $1.7 billion.

The United States announced earlier this month that it would contribute an additional $18 million to the U.N. refugee agency to help southern Sudanese refugees living in Kenya to return home.

# # #