AMECEA: “A Legendary Figure,” AMECEA Chairman’s Description of the late Bishop Macram
Bishop Macram Max Gassi of El Obeid Diocese, Sudan
Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA
Following the death of Bishop Emeritus of El Obeid Catholic Diocese, Sudan, Rt. Rev. Macram Max Gassis, which occurred On Sunday, June 4, in Mechanicsburg, United States of America (USA), the chairman of the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA) has described the late Prelate as a man of the people especially on fighting for their human rights.
“I want to concur with those who have described the late Bishop Macram as a legendary figure in Sudan where he fought so hard throughout his office as the Shepherd of God’s people, against the dictatorship and religious oppression of the Christian community while catering for the thousands of the Sudanese who were under threat of starvation and other humanitarian needs,” Bishop Charles Sampa Kasonde said in a solidarity message shared with AMECEA Online, Monday, June 12, a week after the Prelate’s demise.
According to Bishop Kasonde of Solwezi diocese, Zambia, the charity works by Bishop Gassis the founder and chair of Bishop Gassis Relief and Rescue Foundation, acts as a reminder about Jesus’ teachings on beatitudes from the Gospel of Mathew, “blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you, falsely, because of me…”
In a statement addressed to the President of Sudan and South Sudan Catholic Bishops Conference (SSSCBC), Rt. Rev. Yunan Tombe Trille Kuku Andali, the successor of the late Prelate who served as Apostolic Administrator and bishop for El Obeid Diocese from 1983-2013, AMECEA chairman says, “The late bishop Macram was a strong believer in the spirit of solidarity and a promotor of AMECEA.”
He adds, “His commitment as a member of the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) will always be remembered.”
The AMECEA chairman appreciated members of the Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus (MCCJ) where Bishop Gassis belongs, “For always sending fervent missionaries in the footsteps of their founder Saint Daniel Comboni” in the AMECEA region.
“As the war continues in Sudan, we pray for God’s intervention and for the intercession of all the saints of Africa so that the story of the untold sufferings of the people of Sudan may soon become history,” Bishop Kasonde concluded asking for God’s mercy upon Bishop Gassis.
“May the soul of Bishop Macram rejoice and be glad in heaven where the good Lord has now granted him the eternal reward for the good fight he fought during his earthly life, more especially here in AMECEA region,” he said.
Born in Khartoum, Sudan in 1938, Bishop Gassis was ordained a priest of MCCJ on June 28, 1964 in Verona, Italy. He served as an assistant parish priest, chaplain at the University of Khartoum and in 1983 he was appointed Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of El Obeid, and later appointed Bishop of the same diocese on March 12, 1988.
