By Bida Elly David
The Catholic Arch-Diocese of Torit has received blessings as His Holiness Pope Francis appointed Fr. Emmanuel Bernardino as the new Bishop to undertake the Bishopric of the Dioceses through the Catholic faith.
The Catholic Diocese of Torit has been embattled with number of challenges following the death of their Bishop who was appointed right after the retirement of Bishop Paride Taban.
The diocese has been administered by the apostolic administrator who invested much of his time to ensure that the congregants retain their faith and serve the Lord.
Recently, the congregants of Yei diocese received their new bishop with smiles and jubilated with thanks as the diocese was to be run by reverends who bear holistic competency in serving the people of God.
In a statement extended to No.1Citizen Daily Newspaper yesterday, Msgr. Emmanuel Bernardino Lowi Napeta was born on 19- December-1973 in Kapoeta in the Diocese of Torit.
He attended the Saint Augustine Minor Seminary in Khartoum (1994-1995) and then the Saint Paul Major Seminary in Khartoum (1996-2003) then on the 24th –October-2004, he was ordained as a priest for the Arch diocese of Khartoum.
After his ordination, he served as a parish Vicar of the Holy Spirit parish in Omdurman, Khartoum (2004-2007) and a director of the Institute of Catechists for the third Millennium, Khartoum (2007-2010).
Furthermore Fr. Emmanuel obtained a bachelor’s degree in science of education-Religious Education (2010-2012) and a licentiate in Education, Youth pastoral care and Catechetic from the Salesian Pontifical University in Rome (2014-2017), parish priest of the Cathedral of Saint Mathew, archdiocese of Khartoum.
The statement stated that the newly appointed Bishop has a high intellectual capability to use the dogmatic theology of the Catholic Church to serve the congregation of Torit Catholic Diocese.
According to some Catholic faithful in Torit Diocese, the papal initiative for appointing Fr. Emmanuel as the new bishop will strengthen the faith of the Catholic Church in the diocese as well as improves the liturgical segment to the next level.
They said that the appointment of the Bishop after Ameyo was incarnated as a Bishop at the Metropolitan zone would help a lot in bringing many believers to serve the Lord Jesus Christ.
In continuation, the Bishop elect shall await his installation into complete Bishopric after series of liturgical arrangement that shall be undertaken by Sudan and South Sudan Bishops’ segment.
According to the congregants, there will be numerous traditional and liturgical arrangements that will be carried in preparation for the installation of the new bishop.