The Catholic Church in Sudan and South Sudan said it is set to celebrate 39 years of the establishment of the Eucharistic Congress and the golden jubilee of the church hierarchy in the two countries.
According to the church, Eucharistic Congress, also known as Mass, refers to the gathering of clergy, religious, and laity to bear witness to the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, which is an important Roman Catholic doctrine.
In Sudan, the event was established in 1948 in Khartoum making it 39 years since its establishment.
Speaking during the launch of the logo for the event which is scheduled to take place on the 26 November 2023 in Wau town in Western Bahr el Gazal State, Bishop Santo Laku Pio, said the function will bring together the faithful from Sudan and South Sudan.
According to Pio, the event which is seen as a symbol of faith in Jesus Christ, will involve large open-air masses, Eucharistic adorations, and other devotional ceremonies such as processions, stating that it is mainly conducted by Catholics.
Pio, called on Catholic faithful from both Sudan and South Sudan to take part and participate in the event to renew their faith in Christ Jesus.
“This is a Catholic event because of the centrality of the Eucharist and our faith in it. Not all denominations believe in this and therefore we are asking all our Catholics to take full responsibility,” he said.
He noted that other denominations will only be invited to take part in the Social part while the spiritual part will be left to Catholics.
“The other denominations will be invited to the social part because they like to participate in that,” he noted. “The other part is ours. It is for the Catholics because it has to do with adoration and the prayer animated by the Eucharist.”
The bishop however clarified that keeping other denominations and religions out of the spiritual ceremony of the Eucharistic Congress does not mean they are not invited.
For his part, Bishop Stephen Nyodho of the Malakal Catholic Diocese who also doubles as the chairperson of the Pastoral Commission of the Bishop Conference, said the Eucharistic Congress will bring together clergy, religious, and Laity from Sudan and South Sudan to bear witness to the real presence of Jesus.
“During our extraordinary plenary assembly of Sudan Catholic Bishop Congress of Sudan and South Sudan held in St. Paul Major Seminary in Munuki in October 2022. We the bishops agreed to celebrate the Eucharistic congress conjointly with the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the ecclesiastical hierarchy of the local church in Sudan and South Sudan,” he revealed. “These two celebrations will take place over one year under the theme “One Body, One Spirit in Christ” and this is taken from the letter of St. Paul to Eph. 4:4. The launching of Eucharistic Congress and golden jubilee celebrations of Sudan and South Sudan hierarchy will take in Catholic Diocese of Wau on 2 November 2023.”
Meanwhile, Bishop Alex Lodiong Sakor of Yei Diocese called on the Catholic faithful to renew their faith during the Eucharistic.
“What we will be calling our Christians to do is to renew their faith in the Eucharist and renew it vigorously because there is a moment in between sometimes even Catholics abuse the celebration of the Eucharist,” he said. “They take it for granted and so, this is the time to renew this commitment and faith in Jesus Christ who has given himself to us as a donation for salvation.”
Eucharist is a word derived from the Greek phrase “Eucharisteo” meaning thanksgiving and for this day to thank God for accepting to offer his only son to redeem Christians.