Pope Leo XIV on Sunday renewed his appeal for an immediate ceasefire in Sudan, urging the warring sides to open humanitarian corridors to ease what he described as “unacceptable suffering” caused by months of brutal conflict.
“With great sorrow, I follow the tragic news coming from Sudan, particularly from the city of El-Fasher in the afflicted northern Darfur region,” the pope said during his Angelus address at Saint Peter’s Square.
He condemned “indiscriminate violence against women and children, attacks on unarmed civilians, and serious obstacles to humanitarian action,” stressing that the people of Sudan have already endured “long months of conflict.”
The head of the Catholic Church had earlier in September called on world leaders to intensify diplomatic efforts to end the war and guarantee safe humanitarian access.
The renewed plea comes as international aid agencies warn of worsening atrocities in El-Fasher, where thousands of civilians are feared trapped following the city’s capture by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
According to Doctors Without Borders (MSF), “large numbers of people remain in grave danger” and are being prevented by the RSF and allied militias from fleeing to safer areas. The group said only about 5,000 people have managed to reach the nearby town of Tawila, about 70 kilometres away.
“Where are all the missing people who have already survived months of famine and violence in El-Fasher?” asked Michel Olivier Lacharite, MSF’s head of emergencies. “The most likely, albeit frightening, answer is that they are being killed, blocked, and hunted down when trying to flee.”
Eyewitnesses told MSF that civilians attempting to escape were intercepted, with many separated by gender and ethnicity. Survivors said some were killed or taken hostage.
The UN estimates more than 65,000 people have fled El-Fasher since Sunday, though tens of thousands remain trapped. Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab said satellite imagery indicated “no large-scale movement” of civilians and found at least 31 clusters of what appeared to be human bodies, suggesting mass killings were continuing.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul described the situation in Sudan as “apocalyptic,” calling it “the greatest humanitarian crisis of the world.”
British Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper also condemned the reported atrocities, describing them as “truly horrifying,” citing “mass executions, starvation, and the devastating use of rape as a weapon of war.”
The RSF has claimed to have arrested several fighters accused of abuses during the capture of El-Fasher, but UN officials have questioned its willingness to investigate alleged war crimes. Both the RSF and the Sudanese army have faced accusations of atrocities throughout the 18-month conflict.
The RSF’s seizure of El-Fasher marks full control of all five Darfur state capitals, effectively splitting Sudan between RSF-held western regions and army-controlled territories in the north, east, and centre.
The UN has warned that violence is now spreading into neighbouring Kordofan, with reports of “large-scale atrocities” emerging as the conflict continues to drive what has become the world’s largest displacement and hunger crisis.