Bishop-elect in South Sudan Shot, Evacuation Plans for Specialized Treatment Underway

In his recounting of the events, Fr. Andrea told ACI Africa in reference to the armed men, “When they saw me, they told me to go away. One of them fired two bullets at me. The shots landed on the chair behind him.

Fr. Andrea added making reference to the Bishop-elect, “I think they shot him three bullets, two on one leg and the other one on the other leg. This is what happened. He was shot in front of his door.”

He is in a stable condition, a source said, quoting a doctor attending to the Bishop-elect, adding that doctors have controlled the heavy bleeding.

Plans are underway to airlift him to Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, through the services of the African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF), a source involved in organizing the Bishop-elect’s evacuation has told ACI Africa.

The Italian-born Comboni Missionary Cleric was appointed Bishop for Rumbek Diocese March 8. His episcopal ordination was scheduled to take place on Pentecost Sunday, May 23.

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He had been serving in South Sudan’s Malakal Diocese since he arrived in the East-Central African country in 2005

He traveled to Rumbek Diocese April 15 following days of spiritual retreat in South Sudan’s capital, Juba.

Rumbek Diocese became vacant in July 2011 following the sudden death of Bishop Caesar Mazzolari. The Comboni Missionary Bishop collapsed during the celebration of Holy Eucharist on the morning of 16 July 2011, one week after South Sudan’s independence, and was confirmed dead at the Rumbek State Hospital that morning.

Fr. Fernando Colombo, a member of the Comboni Missionaries governed the Diocese as Diocesan Administrator until 27 December 2013, when Fernando Cardinal Filoni, then Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, appointed Fr. Mathiang Diocesan Coordinator.