AFRICA: SOUTH SUDAN: BISHOPS HOPE FOR MORE VOCATIONS


CISA REPORT: RUMBEK, October 21, 2011 (CISA) -A Catholic Bishop in South Sudan has expressed concern over the lack of vocations and commitment to pastoral duties by some priests and the religious.

Speaking during the recently concluded Church Symposium in Juba, Bishop Rudolf Deng Majak of the Catholic Diocese of Wau said the rate at which some priests and the religious were abandoning their pastoral duties is alarming.

According to Radio Good News, Bishop Deng warned the delegates at the National Symposium that history is going to judge this generation severely if the trend did not stop, especially at a time when people are direly in need of the Good News of Christ.

Meanwhile, Thomas Arik, a long serving catechist in the Diocese of Rumbek concurred with the bishop. He said the Diocese of Rumbek has been sending young people to major seminaries but very few have been ordained to priesthood. He wondered whether this was due to poor formation at the seminaries or lack of interest in priesthood among the young people.

Arik decried the low number of local priests in the Diocese of Rumbek, arguing that this was hindering evangelization. The diocese has a handful of diocesan priests with the rest being from various missionary religious congregations serving in its twelve parishes.

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