AFRICA : SUDAN : ARCHBISHOP ARRIVES FOR CONFERENCE

CISA NEWS REPORT:
Cardinal-Zubeir-in-Juba-to-Lead-Bishops-Plenary
JUBA, September 18, 2012 (CISA) -The Archbishop of Khartoum who is the President of the Sudan Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SCBC) has arrived in Juba to lead the plenary of Bishops from both Sudans.
Cardinal Gabriel Zubeir Wako arrived in Juba on Monday September 17 from Khartoum via Nairobi.
SCBC Secretary General-Sudan Secretariat Santino Maurino told CRN that Cardinal Zubeir is in Juba for the annual plenary assembly of Bishops.
He said the Bishops will discuss a number of issues affecting the Church at the present moment in both countries.
Fr Maurino called on the faithful of South Sudan and Sudan to pray for the success of the Episcopal meeting.
He said the problems affecting the Church in both countries are many and prayer is a powerful tool to solve them and the only weapon that can overcome devil.
Cardinal Zubeir was received at Juba International Airport by the SCBC-Sudan and South Sudan Secretary Generals, fathers Santino Maurino and Charles Abud, and Presidential Advisor for Religious Affairs, Mark Lote’de Lochapi.
The plenary starts on Wednesday September 19 and will end next Monday.
Meanwhile the number of faithful in the Catholic Archdiocese of Khartoum, Sudan, has reduced drastically with the return of displaced South Sudanese to the south.
SCBC Secretary General-Sudan Secretariat Santino Maurino told CRN that the number of leaders, including catechists and youths, has also come down.
He said there are very few pockets of Christians coming for prayers in the Catholic parishes of the Archdiocese.
Following the independence, many Southerners returned from Sudan to South Sudan and the Catholic Church is bracing itself to come to terms with its new diminutive reality in the country.
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