By Manyuon Mayen Manyuon, Juba
The Holy Father of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis has appointed the Bishop of Wau as the new apostolic administrator for the diocese of Rumbek.
On April 26, Father Christian Carlassare, the Bishop elect was shot and wounded at both legs by unknown gunmen at his Residence in Rumbek town. The cleric was later airlifted to Nairobi for treatment.
However, the Holy Father has now appointed a temporal replacement as the Bishop elect recovers from his wounds.
“On behalf of the Apostolic Nuncio, I wish to announce to you that the Holy Father Pope Francis has appointed the Most Reverend Matthew Remijio, Bishop of Wau, as the apostolic Administrator of Rumbek Diocese,” Msgr. Mark Kadima partly said in a statement.
“Bishop Remijio will temporarily govern Rumbek Diocese until the Bishop Elect, the Most Reverend Christian Carlassare, is healed, ordained and takes over the governance of that diocese, hopefully as soon as possible,” he added.
According to the statement, the appointment of the caretaking administrator takes effect immediately.
At the same time, Bishop Remijio will continue to serve as the Bishop of Wau diocese.
The Italian born Comboni Missionary cleric was appointed Bishop for Rumbek Diocese on March 8, 2021 after the position has remained vacant for about 10 years since the death of the last diocese’s Bishop.
The spiritual ordination for the Bishop elect was supposed to take place on May 23, 2021.
He traveled to Rumbek Town on April 15, following days of spiritual retreat in the Capital Juba but surprisingly gunned down on April 26, 2021 by unidentified gunmen before the spiritual ordination.
At leas about 24 suspects were confirmed to have been arrested by Police authorities in Lakes State capital Rumbek following his incident last month.
Father Christian Carlassare had been serving in the country since he arrived, in 2005.
Rumbek Diocese became vacant in July after the sudden death of Bishop Caesar Mazzolari, the Comboni Missionary Bishop that collapsed during the celebration of Holy Eucharist on July 16, 2011, a week after South Sudan’s independence.
