“A time to express our communion”: Cardinal on Meeting of Catholic Bishops in Sudan and South Sudan

Speaking at the start of the June 27-29 SCBC members’ meeting in his Metropolitan See of Juba, Stephen Cardinal Ameyu Mulla said the Catholic Bishops gathered to “share challenges but also to report the different successful stories that we have in our different Dioceses.”

“It is a time to express our communion; communion with one another as Bishops, but also communion with our Priests, religious, and the laity from our respective Dioceses,” Cardinal Ameyu said on Thursday, June 27 at the premises of the Catholic Relief Services (CRS) in the Catholic Archdiocese of Juba. He said that the coming together of Church leaders in Sudan and South Sudan “an immediate expression of that communion between the local Church and the universal church.”

“This council provides a solemn ecclesiastical occasion for the Bishops to make decisions of greater importance, especially regarding matters of faith,” the South Sudanese Cardinal said, and added, “In this way, we can continue to be in solidarity with one another, especially during this delicate moment when we are supposed to come together and address many moral and social problems in our country.”

The Cardinal whose transfer from Torit Diocese to Juba Archdiocese in December 2019 was met with resistance from a section of the Clergy and Laity of South Sudan’s only Metropolitan See continued, “This council serves as a vital expression of communion and solidarity between the Bishops as well as the connected universal Church and all religious congregations that we have in South Sudan.”

Participants in the SCBC meeting planned to “will discuss and update ourselves” on the multi-year ongoing Synod on Synodality, the first session held from 4-29 October 2023 in Rome having concluded with a 42-page Summary Report that outlined some 20 topics discussed during the session, each of the topics having “convergences,” “matters for consideration,” and “proposals”.

“We will also discuss in this forum the insurance of all our clergy. We will discuss ecumenism and inter-religious between us and our brothers of Muslim origin,” the SCBC President said.

Cardinal Ameyu went on to invite participant to seek the presence of the Holy Spirit “to inspire us during this gathering, so that this gathering may be fruitful to us as Bishops, but to all our brothers and sisters that we are taking care of.”

“I ask all of us to again understand the importance of the Bishop in the Diocese,” he appealed, and added, “The Bishop is a father to those who are weak, and those who are strong. In that way, you are in a position to better understand our people.”

Also speaking on June 27, the Chargé d'affaires of the Vatican Nunciature in South Sudan described the May 14 appointment of the first-ever resident Apostolic Nuncio in the world’s newest nation as “a historic step in the history of the country and on the bilateral level of diplomatic relations.”

“We are very pleased with this appointment of Mons. Séamus Patrick Horgan,” Mons. Ionut Paul Strejac said, adding that the appointment of the resident Apostolic Nuncio in South Sudan “is a sign of attention from the Holy Father and the Holy See. But at the same time expresses the closeness of the Holy Father.”

“We've been working for a long time, and I know also that the hierarchy in South Sudan asked the Holy Father to appoint a permanent resident here in Juba. So, we are very grateful for this,” Mons. Strejac said.

Currently in Washington DC, Mons. Horgan is set to leave for Rome early June and to be consecrated Bishop in his native country of Ireland on July 27, the Chargé d'affaires in South Sudan disclosed, adding that the Apostolic Nuncio’s arrival in the country has been scheduled for August 16. “We are waiting for his coming,” the Romanian-born Vatican diplomat said.

Archbishop Hubertus van Megen , who has been serving as the representative of the Holy Father in Kenya and South Sudan is set to travel to the country from Nairobi, his based, in August “to greet the Bishops and civil authorities at the end of his mission,” Mons. Strejac said on June 27.

Ginaba Lino Michael contributed to the writing of this story
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