Information on the Roman Catholic Church's policy on names of its members and whether the church requires its members to have Christian names or permits retention of birth names [SDN19241.E]

In a letter faxed to the DIRB, a representative of the New Sudan Council of Churches bases in Nairobi stated that "the church does not require its members to have Christian names, though very many persons do choose to adopt Christian names" (17 Dec. 1994). This information is corroborated by a representative of the Groupe d'action pour le Soudan based in Montreal, who stated in a telephone interview, that when Christians are baptized, they usually adopt names of saints but also retain their birth names. He gave the example of the archbishop of Khartoum, whose name is Gabriel Zubeir Wako (19 Dec. 1994).

This response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References


Groupe d'action pour le Soudan, Montreal. 19 December 1994. telephone interview with representative.

The New Sudan Council of Churches, Nairobi. 17 December 1994. Letter faxed to the DIRB.