He said, “Parents need to promote girl child education for a better and equal society because marrying them at an early age or before finishing their studies destroys their future.”
According to the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA), more than 10 girls are forced into marriage every week in South Sudan, and over 50% of all girls in the country the gained independence from Sudan in July 2011 are forced into marriage before the age of 18, a factor that contributes to these girls dropping out of school.
In his June 12 speech during his pastoral visit, the 51-year-old Catholic Bishop who has been at the helm of Wau Diocese since his Episcopal Ordination in January 2021 said, “Most of those who are picking our girls from schools are business and rich people.”
He cautioned those behind the high dropout rates among school girls to give the girls a chance to complete their formal education, before presenting “yourself to their relatives or families” for their hand in marriage.
“Allow those who are already in the light of high school to continue rather than destroying their future,” Bishop Remijio reiterated.
In his attempt to condemn the vice of causing girls to drop out of school, the South Sudanese Catholic Bishop said, “In this world, you will be powerful in doing these things but you will be answerable when you go to heaven because you are not respecting God’s creatures.”
On May 30, the Catholic Bishop of Torit Diocese condemned the vice of forcing young girls into marriage, describing it as part of the “old mentality” that should be challenged and denounced in South Sudan.
Speaking during his visit to Bishop Sisto Mazzoldi Primary and Secondary Schools, Bishop Emmanuel Bernardino Lowi Napeta appealed to elders in his Episcopal See to spearhead the disapproval of forced and early marriages.
ACI Africa was founded in 2019. We provide free, up-to-the-minute news affecting the Catholic Church in Africa, giving particular emphasis to the words of the Holy Father and happenings of the Holy See, to any person with access to the internet. ACI Africa is proud to offer free access to its news items to Catholic dioceses, parishes, and websites, in order to increase awareness of the activities of the universal Church and to foster a sense of Catholic thought and culture in the life of every Catholic.
