Advertisement

Catholic Bishop in South Sudan Seeking to Prioritize “reconstruction of infrastructures”

Bishop Alex Lodiong Sakor Eyobo of South Sudan's Yei Diocese. Credit: Courtesy Photo

The Catholic Bishop of South Sudan’s Yei Catholic Diocese is seeking to prioritize the rebuilding of the various “infrastructures that were destroyed during the 2016 conflict” in his Episcopal See.

In an audio shared with ACI Africa Wednesday, October 19, Bishop Alex Lodiong Sakor Eyobo speaks about some of the challenges in his Diocese, which he intends to share with members of the   Sudan Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SCBC) during their October 19-25 Plenary Assembly in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum.

“My priority right now is focusing mainly on the reconstruction of infrastructures destroyed by the conflict in 2016. You know the Diocese of Yei is one of the most affected in South Sudan probably following Malakal because of the war of 2016,” Bishop Lodiong says.

He adds, “Even some fathers’ houses, some churches were destroyed completely without even a single structure standing and so that will be the main thing that I will be sharing with the Bishops.” 

“Many of our institutions have all been destroyed, particularly schools and health centers that are very important for our people because it's helping them a lot in terms of accessing good services,” the South Sudanese Catholic Bishop says.

Advertisement

He continues, “Many Christians in the remote areas cannot be reached with these services because they are in the bushes and reaching them becomes difficult.”

The Local Ordinary of the Yei Diocese finds it regrettable that some of the people of God under his pastoral care “can’t get the supplements or the programs that are run by the Diocese because of their locations.”

The challenge of not being able to reach Christians needs to be addressed, 51-year-old Catholic Bishop who started his Episcopal Ministry on May 15 says in his audio recording shared with ACI Africa, adding that his Episcopal See “has very few Priests running the activities for the communities they are able to reach.”

“You can see the workload in terms of pastoral services among our people in the Diocese because of the shortage of Priests and pastoral agents in the areas of our Diocese,” Bishop Lodiong says in the October 19 audio.

He continues, “There are very few Priests and people need to be reached with the Church services even those in the bushes which is not easy because of the insecurity but they have the right to get the services of the Church.”

More in Africa

“Evangelization is also my agenda as we shall be discussing because some Christians are lacking sacraments that can bring them closer to God,” the South Sudanese Catholic Bishop says in reference the October 19-25 Plenary Assembly of the members of the Sudan Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SCBC) in Khartoum.

He further says, “I will also request for missionary Priests to go and help Christians in Yei Diocese.”

In his audio recording, the Local Ordinary of the Yei Diocese urges the people of God under his pastoral care “to pray for him as he discusses issues concerning the Diocese.”

Patrick Juma Wani is a South Sudanese journalist with a great zeal and interest for Catholic Church related communication. Patrick holds a Diploma in Journalism and Mass Communication from Makerere Institute for Social Development (MISD) in Uganda. He has over 7 years of extensive experience in leading the development and implementation of media, advocacy, communication and multimedia strategy and operations, with an excellent track record of editorial leadership, budget management, and stakeholder outreach. He currently works as a Journalist for ACI Africa.