New cardinal's term in Khartoum parallels Christian-Muslim issues

Published: 2003-10-14

KHARTOUM, Sudan (CNS) -- Cardinal-designate Gabriel Zubeir Wako's term as archbishop of Khartoum has paralleled the difficulty of Muslim-Christian relations in one of the world's trouble spots. While his country has fought a practically nonstop civil war, the church has negotiated its way around intolerance, harassment and the imposition of Shariah, or Islamic law. Cardinal-designate Zubeir Wako, 62, also has been jailed, once in 1998 after a dispute with a Muslim merchant who said the archbishop owed him $650,000 for humanitarian relief supplies delivered to the Archdiocese of Khartoum. He was named to the College of Cardinals Sept. 28 and will be elevated in the Oct. 21 consistory at the Vatican.

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