By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist

The Archbishop of Khartoum narrowly escaped injury when a man posing as a liturgical dancer at a Mass he ws celebrating suddenly pulled out a knife and attempted to stab him.

According to the Catholic Information Service for Africa (CISA), Archbishop Gabriel Cardinal Zubeir Wako was celebrating Mass on Sunday, the feast of St. Daniele Comboni, when the dancer pulled out a knife and came within inches of stabbing the prelate before he was apprehended and disarmed.

Thankfully, a quick thinking master of ceremonies, Barnaba Mateuch Anei, spotted the would-be assassin in time and was able to intercept him and take away the knife before he could harm the Archbishop.

The assailant has been identified as Hamdan Mohamed Abdurrahman, an Arab of the nomadic Messiria tribe from Southern Kurdufan. He is currently in police custody as authorities work to determine if he acted alone or if the plot involved others.

Anei told CISA that the Church in Sudan will seek to “find out what was his mission […] and why he did carry a dagger with him. After that, we will see what to do next,” adding that “we must know his background and identity. If he has people backing him to carry out such actions in the church, we would like to know . . .”

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