AFRICA : SOUTH SUDAN : SPIRITANS TO OPEN 1ST MISSION IN AREA

CISA NEWS REPORT:

RUMBEK, March 30, 2012 (CISA) –The missionary congregation of the Holy Ghost Fathers, the Spiritans, is ready to open its first mission in South Sudan.

This was revealed by the Superior of the Spiritans in Kenya, Fr Martin Keane who has ministered in Kenya for over 40 years, in an interview with Good News Radio.

Fr Keane said that the Spiritans had resolved to open their first mission in South Sudan with the pioneer members coming to Rumbek Diocese last September, explaining that the move was postponed following the death of the bishop of Rumbek last July.

He further said that dialogue is underway to have the Spiritans in Rumbek Diocese in the course of this year, revealing that two members would be ready to come in May and another two in October this year.

Fr Keane also said that priority will be given to learning the local language and the culture, adding that his confreres would eventually evangelize through education.

Fr Keane went on to call on South Sudanese to approach the process of development with patience, citing the example of Kenya where the first years after independence recorded a rather slow process of growth and development.

He also advocated for unity among the people of South Sudan, encouraging a good relationship between the Church and the State with the Church playing the role of being the conscience of the nation.

Meanwhile, the Diocesan Administrator of Rumbek Diocese, Fr Fernando Colombo welcomed the decision by the Spiritans to join other missionaries in the service of evangelization, explaining that the diocese is still in the stage of first evangelization and that it is in need of missionaries.

Founded in France, there are three thousand Spiritans ministering in all the five continents of the world and several islands. They are guided by the mission to work in places where the Church has difficulty finding pastoral agents and especially contexts of first evangelization.

SOURCE: CISA NEWS