Sudan Catholic Bishops Conference meets in Khartoum

July 20, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — The Sudan Catholic Bishops Conference on Wednesday started its annual plenary assembly in Khartoum to review the works of its many departments and tackle pressing issues.

The 12 bishops, meeting in Khartoum for the first time in 18 years, are discuss post-war reconstruction of the education sector and plans to the transfer the country’s major seminary to Juba in the south.

Other issues on the agenda are the Health Teaching Institute in Wau, the Sudan Catholic Radio Network and the establishment of a Catholic university in Sudan

The bishops are also discussing diocesan marriage tribunals, guidelines for newly ordained priests, formation in seminaries and amendments to the statutes and bylaws of the bishops’ conference.

Speaking at the start of the plenary, conference president Archbishop Paolino Lukudu announced that the South Sudan regional bishops’ conference secretariat will be relocated from Nairobi to Juba.

“We appreciate the solidarity of so many people who supported us from outside during the war and are still with us in time of peace,” he said.

Presiding over the opening mass, the country’s apostolic nuncio, Archbishop Leo Boccardi, stressed the need for serious formation of pastoral agents, especially priests.

The bishops are also discussing reports on the first national workshop on liturgy held in Juba, the war in Darfur, Catholic membership of the Sudanese Council of Churches and preparatory work for the Second Synod for Africa.

(Catholic Information Service for Africa)