VATICAN: Vatican Receives Relics of South Sudanese Nuns at Altar Dedicated to New Martyrs of Africa

Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA

Months after the death of two South Sudanese nuns Sr. Mary Daniel Abut and Sr. Regina Roba who were among the people killed in a road ambush by armed men last year, the relics of the two sisters have been received at the altar dedicated to new Martyrs of Africa in the Basilica of St. Bartholomew.

“We are together in this Basilica of San Bartolomeo which St. John Paul II wanted to be dedicated to the New Martyrs. And we welcome the robe and sandals of Sister Regina and Sister Mary, killed in South Sudan on August 16, 2021 on the road to Juba as they were returning, along with many other people, from the celebration for the centenary of the parish of Loa, in the diocese of Torit,” Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia the President of the Pontifical Academy for Life said in the homily during the solemn introduction of the nuns’ relics on Monday, May 23.

Referring to the Gospel of St. John in his homily, the Vatican-based Prelate noted that the Monday prayer is to help remember the hour of witness of the two nuns who belong to the Institute of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

“Two disciples of Jesus gave their lives to the Lord and for their sisters and brothers. Sister Regina and Sister Mary join the number of witnesses and their relics that enrich this Basilica,” the Prelate said while addressing the congregants adding, “For us and for those who will visit it (Basilica) from today, they are a witness that edifies not only in a figurative sense, but real so that we can grow in love for the Gospel with that generosity that distinguishes those who have witnessed fidelity to the Gospel to the point of blood.”

“We too, therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great host of witnesses, put down all the burdens and the sin that so easily envelops us, and let us run the race that is proposed to us with perseverance, fixing our gaze on Jesus, the one who creates faith and makes it perfect,” the Archbishop who doubles as the Grand Chancellor of the John Paul II Pontifical Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences encouraged the faithful and continued, “Their testimony makes us pensive in the face of the violence they have suffered.”

The Church leader emphasized that the testimony and witness of Sr. Regina and Sr. Mary urges the faithful to “continue walking and indeed to run on the path of communicating the Gospel.

“Basilica dedicated to the New Martyrs reminds us that the Gospel must be lived with that dimension of “heroism” proper to Jesus,” the Archbishop narrated noting that, “In this time so radically marked by individualism, there is a need for the testimony of a Gospel without additions, radical.”

During the Monday homily, Archbishop Paglia appealed that the testimony of the two sisters may “push South Sudan on the path of reconciliation and peace” especially during this time when Pope Francis is preparing to visit the country which will be a sign of blessing for South Sudan and for the entire African continent.

“Sister Mary and Sister Regina gave their witness, they gave their life for the Gospel in their country, so that their blood may be the seed of peace and faith in the Lord Jesus, so that the time of liberation of the people of South Sudan may soon come from all hatred and violence,” the Archbishop concluded.