Pope Leo XIV leads the All Souls' Day holy mass as part of the commemoration of all the faithful departed at the Verano Monumental Cemetery, in Rome. AFP
"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 denounced "indiscriminate violence against women and children, attacks on unarmed civilians, and serious obstacles to humanitarian action" that have caused "unacceptable suffering to a population already exhausted by long months of conflict".
The pope renewed a "heartfelt appeal to the parties involved for a ceasefire and the urgent opening of humanitarian corridors".
In September, the head of the Catholic Church had called on responsible actors and the international community to increase diplomatic efforts to "end this humanitarian catastrophe" and ensure humanitarian corridors.
Sudan's war has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced millions and triggered the world's largest displacement and hunger crisis.
International powers have struggled for months to mediate an end to the fighting between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese army, raging since April 2023.
The RSF seized the city of El-Fasher in late October, forcing the military out of its last stronghold in Darfur following a brutal 18-month siege marked by starvation and bombardment.
Since taking control of the city, the RSF has been accused of committing numerous atrocities, including summary executions, sexual violence, attacks on aid workers, looting, and abductions.
The UN said on Friday the death toll from the RSF's assault on the city may be in the hundreds, while army allies accused the paramilitary group of killing over 2,000 civilians.
Communications in the region remain largely cut off, making it difficult to verify the full scale of the violence, but Yale University's Humanitarian Research Lab suggested on Friday that mass killings were likely continuing in and around El-Fasher.
The lab, which uses satellite imagery and open-source information to document human rights abuses during wars, said fresh images from Friday showed "no large-scale movement" of civilians fleeing the city, giving them reason to believe much of the population may be "dead, captured, or in hiding".
The lab identified at least 31 clusters of objects consistent with human bodies between Sunday and Friday, across neighbourhoods, university grounds and military sites.
"Indicators that mass killing is continuing are clearly visible," the lab said.
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