KENYA: On Trinity Sunday, Comboni Missionaries Lose Three Confreres Including Bishop Macram
Bishop Macram Max Gassi of El Obeid Diocese, Sudan
Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA
On Sunday, June 4, as the Catholic Church marked the doctrine of the Trinity which is the mystery of the unity of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit as three persons in one Godhead, Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus (MCCJ) congregation have lost three of their confreres: Bishop Macram Max Gassis, Emeritus of El Obeid Catholic Diocese, Sudan, Fr. Agostino Zanotto and Fr. Giacomelli Luciano.
In three different statements shared with AMECEA Online, the Superior General of the MCCJ congregation Fr. Tesfaye Tadesse Gebresilasie indicated that the late Bishop Gassis died in Mechanicsburg, United States of America (USA); Fr. Zanotto died in Nairobi, Kenya; and Fr. Luciano died in Castel d’Azzano, Italy all on Sunday.
According to members of Sudan and South Sudan Catholic Bishops Conference (SSSCBC) where the Bishop Emeritus of El Obeid Diocese was a member since his appointment as a Bishop in 1988, the death announcement message noted that the Prelate “struggled with sickness for a long time.”
In the statement signed by the Secretary General of SSSCBC Fr. Peter Suleiman Bolis, the conference is expecting the remains of Bishop Gassis back from the USA and a committee has been formed to organize for a peaceful send off.
“For the arrival of the body and the burial, there is a team that is working on the schedule. As soon as it is ready, I will communicate it to you,” reads part of the message dated Monday, June 5, and addressed to the bishops and the clergy.
Bishop Gassis was born in 1938, professed as Religious and member of the MCCJ in 1957, and later in 1964 ordained a priest for the same congregation.
The late Sudanese Prelate was appointed Apostolic Administrator of El Obeid Diocese in 1983 and five years later appointed the Local Ordinary of the same Diocese, a position where he served until his retirement in 2013.
For the late Fr. Zanotto who died in Kenya, the burial is scheduled for Friday, June 9, at St. Austin’s cemetery in Msongari, Nairobi.
