All Set for Pioneer Bishop’s Installation for South Sudan’s Newest Catholic Diocese

To be realized under the theme, “You are all one in Christ”, activities ahead of the installation include Bishop Carlassare’s grand reception at Juba International Airport on August 6 from 9 a.m., to be followed by a procession to his residence in the Catholic Archdiocese of Juba, at the Comboni House. At Comboni House, the Italian-born member of the Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus (MCCJ) is set to meet with different groups of people, including youths and the elderly, as well as South Sudan’s dignitaries. Holy Mass in Juba with Bishop Carlassare has been scheduled for August 7, the eve of his departure for Bentiu in South Sudan’s Unity State.

A delegation from Juba will join Bishop Carlassare in Bentiu on August 9 for the main installation Mass on August 11, which the Local Ordinary of Juba, Stephen Ameyu Martin Cardinal Mulla, is to preside over. Pope Francis made public the erection of the Catholic Diocese of Bentiu on July 3, and appointed Bishop Carlassare as pioneer Local Ordinary, transferring him from South Sudan’s Catholic Diocese of Rumbek, where he had started his wasstarted his Episcopal Ministry in March 2022.

The new Catholic Diocese becomes one of the seven suffragan Dioceses of Juba Archdiocese, the only Metropolitan See in the country that gained independence from Sudan in July 2011. Bentiu Diocese measures 37836 square kilometers and 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 2024 statistics.

Bishop Carlassare is to temporarily continue shepherding the people of God in Rumbek Diocese as Apostolic Administrator. The Italian-born MCCJ member, who was ordained a Priest in September 2004 and commissioned to South Sudan spent all his life as a Priest in Malakal Diocese. 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.

Reacting to his new appointment, Bishop Carlassare reflected on how hard it is for him to leave the Diocese of Rumbek. He, however, expressed enthusiasm to serve the people of God in Bentiu, noting that the new Diocese serves a “familiar” territory. Bishop Carlassare expressed his enthusiasm to be reunited with the Nuer people in Bentiu who he said were the first to welcome him in South Sudan. “Nuer people are a resilient community that live in very harsh conditions due to conflict and marginalization,” he told ACI Africa in a July 5 interview.

Despite that, Bishop Carlassare, whose Episcopal Ordination was delayed for almost a year after he was shot in both legs added, the Nuer people “have great strength and have a positive attitude towards life. Generosity and solidarity are their assets. They never give up.”

Agnes Aineah – ACI Africa