Hospitalized South Sudanese Catholic Bishop on Path to Recovery after “minor operation”

Yei, 05 July, 2023 / 11:20 AM

Bishop Erkolano Lodu Tombe who underwent a “minor operation” at a hospital in Rome is on the path to recovery, the Auxiliary Bishop of South Sudan’s Juba Archdiocese has said.

In the June 30 interview with ACI Africa, Bishop Santo Loku Pio Doggale said, “I can say the Bishop is well and his health is okay because he is recovering well after the operation.”

Bishop Erkolano “is well and will come back to join in our mission of proclamation,” Bishop Santo added about the 80-year-old South Sudanese Catholic Bishop who retired from the pastoral care of South Sudan’s Yei Diocese in February 2022.

He went on to explain about the operation, saying, “The minor surgery was a result of cellulitis and an infection on his right leg that makes it swell.”

“The doctors in Rome are trying their best to control the situation and they are doing what is possible to make sure the Bishop recovers,” the 53-year-old Auxiliary Bishop of Juba Archdiocese added.

The Auxiliary Bishop who started his Episcopal Ministry in February 2011 further said, “We are praying and hoping by the end of the month of July he will be with us here in Juba.”

Bishop Erkolano was ordained a Priest in May 1970. He was appointed Bishop of Yei Diocese in March 1986. His successor, Bishop Alex Lodiong Sakor Eyobo, was Consecrated Bishop in May last year.

In May, Bishop Santo appealed for “God’s healing and protection” for Bishop Erkolano following his hospitalization. 

In his May 14 homily during his pastoral visit to Yei Diocese, the South Sudanese Catholic Bishop invited the people of God to pray for the quick recovery of Bishop Erkolano and his safe return to the country.