By Ngor Deng
Bishop of El Obied Catholic Diocese, Nuba Mountains, His Lordship Macram Max Gassis has passed on, in the United States of America.
The late Bishop, who died on 4th June 2023, at the age of 85, was born on September 21, 1938 in Khartoum, Sudan.
He was the Bishop of El Obied Catholic Diocese, where churches in Twic county of Warrap, Abyei area and Nuba Mountain, all fell under his pastoral administration.
Mayen Abun Catholic Parish priest, Fr. Kuol Akech Dut said that schools founded by the church will close for three days to mourn the late Bishop.
Due to the passing on of Bishop Macram Max Gassis, our Catholic schools in Twic County and Abyei will be closed for 3 days, from today till Wednesday, Fr. Kuol wrote in his Facebook page.
Acclaiming the late Bishop as Shepherd, Leader, and Pastor, the parish priest said the three days closure of institutions of learning is to mourn the departed spiritual leader.
“May the Good Lord rest his good soul in Eternal Peace,” Fr. Kuol’s Facebook timeline indicated.
Bishop Macram received his early education from the Comboni Missionaries before attending seminary in Italy, where he was ordained a priest on June 28, 1964, in Verona.
Macram returned to his home diocese of El Obeid in 1965 and served as assistant parish priest in Wad Medani Sudan.
During his tenure, Macram expanded the work of the church and established new parishes throughout the region.
He served as a chaplain at the University of Khartoum, and also earned a degree in canon law from the Catholic University of America.
By 1983, the bishop Macram was appointed Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of El Obeid, and on March 12, 1988, ultimately appointed Bishop of El Obeid.
A former Nobel Peace Prize nominee, Bishop Macram testified before the U.S. Congress in 1988 about the human rights abuses committed by the Sudanese government against the innocent people of his country.
The human right abuses in Macram’s testimony included enslavement, air raids, forced starvation, and rape at the hands of the government army.
Following this testimony, the Sudanese government brought criminal charges against him, and for years he was forced to sneak in and out of his country for security reasons.
Bishop Macram continued to travel the world from his headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, serving as the voice of the people of the Nuba Mountains and South Sudan, especially in Twic and Abyei.
He raised funds to build schools, hospitals, roads and water wells.
Twic County remembers Bishop Macram of building more than five primary and secondary schools in Turalei, Wunrok and Mayen Abun towns.
Bishop Macram’s other development project that keeps flashing his name in the minds people include, Mother Teresa Hospital in Turalei payam, a well-constructed health facility.