“Hard to leave”: Transferred Catholic Bishop in South Sudan Pens Moving Letter to Diocese after New Appointment

He explains, “People hear many things about Rumbek and may be afraid to come. But then people find that things are different and bond with the people and community so much that it becomes hard to leave. It might also be my case.”

“My coming and settling here was quite tough,” he says in his two-page letter dated July 3, the Feast of St. Thomas, Apostle.

Credit: Fr. Luka Dor/Diocese of Rumbek

Bishop Carlassare’s Episcopal appointment for Rumbek Diocese in March 2021 was followed by the life-threatening episode of his being shot in both legs on 26 April 2021. The situation pushed his Episcopal Consecration that had been initially scheduled for Pentecost Sunday that year (23 May 2021) to the Solemnity of the Annunciation the following year, on 25 March 2022.

“I cried, you cried, all Rumbek cried,” he says recalling the “quite tough” experiences that followed his 15 April 2021 arrival in Rumbek Diocese as Bishop-elect, and continues, “We stood up together and made a journey. It is now three years. Maybe time was too short. But we had many remarkable initiatives during the last two years and few good achievements as well.”

Bishop Carlassare goes on to describe his stay in Rumbek Diocese as a “short-time” during which he recalls he has bonded with the people of God there.

Credit: Fr. Wanyonyi Eric Simiyu, S.J (Rumbek)

“Though a short time, I would say it was full-time, really filled with many graces and blessings,” he says, and adds, “We definitely bonded together. I received so much love. I feel strengthened by you, by your commitment, by your faith. And I am really grateful.”

The MCCJ member, who was ordained a Priest in September 2004 and spent all his life as a Priest in Malakal Diocese describes his Papal appointment to the new Diocese carved out of Malakal Diocese as Good News, and adds, “It is for us the Gospel of the work of God among His people of South Sudan.”

“I am profoundly touched by the love and trust of the Holy Father as He calls me, limited as I am, to serve the Church that is in Bentiu,” Bishop Carlassare says.

Credit: Fr. Wanyonyi Eric Simiyu, S.J (Rumbek)

He further describes his transfer from Rumbek Diocese to establish a new Episcopal See as “a very demanding call”, noting that “there are so many needs at the very beginning of a new diocese.”

He appeals for prayers as he embarks on his new mission in one of the most difficult places in South Sudan, where about 90 percent of the population has reportedly been displaced by floods.

Bentiu also hosts one of South Sudan’s biggest refugee camps for people who suffer from traumas from the country’s past wars, as well as children who suffer from hunger and malnutrition.

Bishop Christian Carlassare of Rumbek Diocese, South Sudan, during 2024 Chrism Mass at Holy Family Cathedral of Rumbek Diocese on 27 March 2024. Credit: Fr. Luka Dor/Rumbek Diocese

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“I accept this appointment with trust in the Lord. Let Him take my understanding, my will and my energies. I surrender them to the guidance of His will. What I ask is His grace and your prayer,” Bishop Carlassare, who is to temporarily continue shepherding the people of God in Rumbek Diocese as Apostolic Administrator says.

He is to be installed as the pioneer Bishop Bentiu Diocese that starts off with seven Parishes, seven Diocesan Priests, four Religious Priests, 10 Major Seminarians, and two Male religious institutes, according to the July 3 Holy See Press report

The newly erected Catholic Diocese, the eight in the world’s newest country that gained independence from Sudan in July 2011, becomes one of the suffragan Dioceses of the Catholic Archdiocese of Juba, the only Metropolitan See in the country.

Credit: Catholic Diocese of Rumbek

The new Diocese measures 37,836 square kilometers. It has a population of 1,131.886 of which 621,643 are Catholic faithful, representing 54.92 percent of the total population of the territory of the Diocese.

Alluding to his familiarity with his new mission of Bentiu Diocese, having served in the South Sudanese territory since his arrival in the country in 2005, Bishop Carlassare says, “Catholic faith is not new there. The first mission was founded in Yonyang back in 1925. Next year the new Diocese will celebrate 100 years of evangelization.”

Credit: Catholic Diocese of Rumbek

He goes on to applaud Bentiu’s 100 years of “touching history” and witness of the Diocese’s many lay pastoral agents who the MCCJ member says had kept the faith. He also acknowledges with appreciation the current leadership, including the Local Ordinary of Malakal Diocese, Bishop Stephen Nyodho Ador Majwok.

Credit: Fr. Luka Dor/Rumbek Diocese

“I really appreciate the work done in the seven parishes of that pastoral region, the priests that have served and serve there now, Fr. William Bol, episcopal vicar for this pastoral region, and the courageous work of His Lordship Bishop Stephen Nyodho who – in the last five years – guided the journey towards the erection of this new Diocese,” Bishop Carlassare says.

He recognizes the proximity between Rumbek Diocese and the newly erected Diocese of Bentiu, saying, “We shall be two bordering Dioceses.”

“I think we shall find areas to work in partnership, to bring our communities to meet and overcome prejudices, and benefit together of the resources because we shall be able to live in peace,” the 46-year-old Catholic Bishops says in his July 3 letter.