Meriam Ibrahim meets Pope Francis

Meriam Ibrahim was released yesterday and flew with her family to Italy, where she met with Pope Francis.

Last month we wrote about her ordeal in Sudan, where she was condemned to death for marrying a Catholic man.

According to a report from the BBC:

Mrs Ibrahim met Pope Francis at his Santa Marta residence at the Vatican soon after her arrival.

"The Pope thanked her for her witness to faith," Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi was quoted as saying.

The meeting, which lasted around half an hour, was intended to show "closeness and solidarity for all those who suffer for their faith," he added.

Update on Meriam Ibrahim

Meriam Ibrahim, the Sudanese Catholic woman whose death sentence for renouncing Islam was overturned, was been released from jail again, after she was detained at Khartoum airport on Tuesday.

According to news reports, Mrs. Ibrahim was released yesterday on the condition that she remains in Sudan. The lawyer said that she was currently in the US embassy with her family.

In Washington, a State Department spokeswoman said Mrs. Ibrahim and her family were "in a safe location" and Sudan's government "has assured us of the family's continued safety." Citing privacy considerations, she declined to specify that location.

Sudan's National Security and Intelligence Authority is reported to have lodged a complaint against Mrs. Ibrahim. Reports say now that Sudan's intelligence agency is involved, Mrs. Ibrahim's case is likely to be more difficult and complicated to resolve.


Mrs. Ibrahim was sentenced to death and to 100 lashes after refusing to renounce her Christian faith. She has been convicted by a court in Khartoum on charges of apostasy and adultery. Last month, she gave birth to a baby girl while shackled to the floor in a Khartoum prison where she is being held with her newborn daughter and 20-month-old son.

Meriam Ibrahim released

When Father Thomas Konopka asked me to write a blog post about Meriam Ibrahim last week, I had no idea that the end result would come so quickly. However, I am happy to inform you that she has been released from prison.

If you were one of the people who signed the petition, or called a legislator, or prayed for her release, “Thank you!” (And if you were not, may this encourage you to do something the next time a situation arises.)

This is just one example of the power that we have when we add our voices to those of others, and even when we pray in the silence of our own rooms.

You can read more here.

Catholic mother condemned

The case of Meriam Ibrahim has gained world-wide attention.

She is the 27-year-old Catholic woman in Sudan who was sentenced to death and to 100 lashes after refusing to renounce her Christian faith. She has been convicted by a court in Khartoum on charges of apostasy and adultery. Last month, she gave birth to a baby girl while shackled to the floor in a Khartoum prison where she is being held with her newborn daughter and 20-month-old son.

Her husband, Daniel Wani, a US citizen, told the Guardian newspaper that his wife and children were being held in inhumane conditions, and the prison authorities were "extremely tough" with her. He said that she spent two days in her labor blood after she gave birth and was prevented from having a shower until the human rights committee visited. 

According to newspaper reports, Ibrahim had told the court she was the daughter of a Sudanese Muslim father and an Ethiopian Christian mother. She said that her father left when she was six, and she was brought up as a Christian by her mother. She met Wani, who moved to the US in 1998 and became an American citizen, in 2005. They were married at Khartoum Catholic church on December 19, 2011.

CNA/EWTN News reports that the Catholic Archdiocese of Khartoum has urged Sudanese authorities to review the legal case. 

“The fact of the matter is that Meriam did not abandon the Islamic faith but rather she, in the first place, did not follow the Islamic religion since her childhood,” Father Mussa Timothy Kacho, episcopal vicar for the archdiocese’s Khartoum region, said June 11.

He said the archdiocese has “deep regret” over the way the case was handled “in disregard to Meriam’s moral and religious belief.” He noted that Sudan’s interim constitution guarantees religious freedom.

Vatican Radio reports that a gathering of Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Sikhs and representatives of other denominations from across the European Union earlier this month called for her immediate release.

A petition has been started urging the Obama administration to “pressure the Sudanese government to release Meriam and her children so she can escape execution and possible death of her children and be rejoined with her husband in the U.S. Please grant her expedited safe haven in the U.S., where she could seek asylum.”

You can sign the petition here.