Daniel Comboni
Comboni Missionaries
Institutional area
Other links
Newsletter
Bishop Christian Carlassare appointed pioneer Bishop of the newly Diocese of Bentiu in South Sudan
Friday, July 5, 2024
Pope Francis has erected the Catholic Diocese of Bentiu in South Sudan and appointed Bishop Christian Carlassare, who is currently serving as the Local Ordinary of the country’s Rumbek Diocese as its pioneer Bishop. The erection of the new Episcopal See, the eighth in the world's newest nation, was made public by the Holy See Press office on Wednesday, July 3. [Photo: L’Osservatore Romano. Text: ACI Africa]
Carved out from the Catholic Diocese of Malakal, the newly erected Diocese becomes one of the suffragan Dioceses of the Catholic Archdiocese of Juba, the only Metropolitan See in the country that gained independence from Sudan in July 2011. The newly erected South Sudanese Diocese measures 37836 square kilometers. It has a population of 1,131.886 of which 621,643 are Catholic faithful, representing 54.92 percent of the total population of the territory of the Diocese, according to the Holy See's July 3 report.
Bishop Carlassare, the pioneer Bishop of the new Diocese, is to temporarily continue shepherding the people of God in Rumbek Diocese as Apostolic Administrator.
The Italian-born member of the Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus (MCCJ), who was ordained a Priest in September 2004 and commissioned to South Sudan spent all his life as a Priest in Malakal Diocese. Pope Francis appointed him Bishop for Rumbek Diocese in March 2021. His Episcopal Consecration that had been initially scheduled for Pentecost Sunday that year (23 May 2021) was postponed indefinitely after he was shot in both legs on 26 April 2021.
On his second Episcopal anniversary earlier this year, Bishop Carlassare reflected on “The Pact of Catacombs”, a November 1965 document that a section of Catholic Bishops participating in the Second Vatican Council signed to express their personal commitments to the ideals of the Council. In his homily during the March 25 celebration, the 46-year-old Catholic Church leader highlighted the 13 commitments of the Bishop signatories, lauding their particular focus on evangelical poverty and a simple lifestyle.
When installed as Local Ordinary of Bentiu Diocese, Bishop Carlassare will oversee the new Diocese that is starting off with seven Parishes, seven Diocesan Priests, four Religious Priests, 10 Major Seminarians, and two Male religious institutes, according to the July 3 Holy See report.
[ACI Africa]