SOUTH SUDAN: I will Work for True Dialogue, Justice, Peace and Reconciliation, Says Bishop-Elect of Torit
Rt. Rev. Stephen Ameyu Martin Mulla, Bishop-Elect Catholic Diocese of Torit
Bishop-Elect of Torit Diocese Rt. Rev. Stephen Ameyu Martin Mulla has indicated that he is committed to work for true dialogue, justice, peace and reconciliation with any person of good will.
He said this in his acceptance address to staff members and seminarians of St. Paul’s Major Seminary where he was working as a Lecturer and Dean until his appointment, in the presence of Msgr. Mark Kadima, Vatican Ambassador in South Sudan and Rev. Fr. John Loboka, Rector of St. Paul’s Major Seminary.
He said that the task of new evangelization proposed by Popes Francis and Benedict XVI, falls on all and must rely on pastoral agents who include bishops, priests, Religious men and women, catechists and lay faithful.
“To secure the success of evangelization we must have strong foundations. Agents of evangelization have to be empowered, cared for and maintained continuously so that they can deliver services properly in any assignments given them,” Bishop-Elect Rt. Rev. Ameyu said in the statement which he shared with AMECEA Online News.
Appointed on 3rd January 2019, the Bishop-elect accepted the task in a spirit of obedient and in solidarity with the priests and faithful of Torit Diocese, to participate actively in the task of new evangelization of the world as proposed by Popes Francis and Benedict XVI.
“I have accepted to be a bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Torit to show my obedient to Christ and his Vicar in Rome. It is a heavy Cross but I am always convinced that Christ is often with us until the end of times,” he said adding that “it is not easy to be a sign of Christ present among the people of God in places like Torit Diocese but with the grace of God, what Christ started He will bring it to completion.”
Rt. Rev. Stephen Ameyu further indicated that he accepted the responsibility partly for his dear priests with whom together they can represent Christ who is a shepherd and bishop of our souls as indicated in the 1st Letter of Saint Peter chapter 1:1. “We will build our communion and priesthood together and we will care for one another so that we can serve the poor and the wounded Church.”
He thanks his predecessors Rt. Rev. Taban Paride and the Late Rt. Rev. Akio Johnson Mutek who passed on in 2013 as well as the Msgr. Thomas Oliha who has been the Apostolic Administrator of Torit Diocese until now. He said that without them, “The Church in the Diocese would not be what it is today; we are a maturing Church.”
Bishop-Elect Catholic Diocese of Torit
The Bishop-Elect was born in Ido (diocese of Torit), on January 10, 1964. He entered the Minor Seminary of Torit (1978-1981) and later in Wau (1981-1983). Then he attended the St. Paul National Major Seminary where he did Philosophy in Bussere (Wau) from 1984 to 1987, and later on Theology in Munuki (Juba) from 1988 to 1991. He received priestly ordination on April 21, 1991 for the Diocese of Torit.
Since his ordination, Rt. Rev. Stephen Ameyu has served the Church in the following roles and academic studies: 1991-1992: Parish Vicar of the Cathedral of Khartoum St. Matthew and in charge of three pastoral areas: St. John the Evangelist in Shendi; St. Charles Lwanga in Jebel Aulia; and St. Bakhita Centre in Kamlin; 1992: parish vicar of the Blessed Assumpta Parish in Atbara (Khartoum); 1993: Parish priest of St. John the Evangelist Parish in Shendi (Khartoum).
Between 1993-1997, he studied in Rome at the Pontifical Urbaniana University for Doctorate in Dogmatic Theology, residing at the Pontifical College of Saint Peter. From 1997 he was Lecturer and Dean of the St. Paul National Major Seminary in Juba and from 1998-2000, professor at the Comboni College for Adults and Teachers.
Between 1999 and 2008 Rt. Rev. Stephen Ameyu was lecturer and consultant of the local Sudanese Organization for Non-violence and Democracy (SONAD); 2005-2010 founder, consultant and councillor of the local humanitarian NGO Horiok Community Association and Development (HODA); 2013-2016 Consultant and Chaplain of Women’s Group; Consultant and Chaplain of Women Advancement Organization at Guddele (WAO) in Juba; Assistant Vice Chancellor for Administration and Finance of the Catholic University of South Sudan; Deputy Director of the Institute of Applied Research and Community Outreach Catholic University of South Sudan (LARCO).
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By Pamela Adinda, AMECEA Online News
