By Charles K Mark
Cardinal Stephen Ameyu Martin Mulla has arrived Juba, today following the Vatican City synod.
Bishop Santo Loku Pio, the auxiliary bishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Juba, landed Juba International Airport at 10:00 Am.
The Assistant Archbishop of Juba Catholic Archdiocese said a reception of the country’s historical cardinal will be attended by dignitaries, clerics, the church congregation, and the general public.
Hundreds of the faithful received the cardinal at the airport with a procession of cultural groups, singers, and other dignitaries.
A bigger event containing speeches, entertainment, and gifting is scheduled for November 4, 2023, at the Thanksgiving Mass.
Stephen Ameyu Martin Mulla is one of the 21 bishops that Pope Francis named on 9th July 2023 at a consistory for the creation of Cardinals.
He is also among three African Bishops who have been made cardinals on September 30, 2023, in a consistory occasion in the Vatican City, Rome.
Cardinal Stephen Ameyu, born on 10 January 1964 hails from Torit County of Eastern Equatoria, South Sudan.
He received priestly ordination on 21 April 1991 as a diocesan priest of the Catholic Diocese of Torit.
After his pastoral work in Khartoum, he pursued a doctorate at the Pontifical Urban University from 1993 to 1997, for an award of a doctorate in dogmatic theology.
The title of his thesis was “Toward Religious Dialogue and Reconciliation in Sudan.”
He then taught at the seminary of Juba, South Sudan, eventually becoming its rector.
Pope Francis appointed Stephen Ameyu Martin Mulla, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Torit on 3 January 2019. The diocese had fallen vacant for 5 years since March 2013, following the death of Bishop, Johnson Akio Mutek.
On 12 December 2019, Pope Francis also appointed Stephen Ameyu, as archbishop of Juba and 22nd March 2020 marked his installation.