By William Madouk
At least three Catholic Missionary priests are undergoing investigation in South Sudan on an allegation of sexual misconduct against male minors.
The three priests of Mary Immaculate (MMI) were attached to Nyamlel Parish Catholic Church in Aweil West County, Northern Bahr El Ghazal State.
Disgruntled residents in Nyamlel stormed the parish, on Friday, with the intention of beating one missionary priest to death. They accused the man of God of sexually abusing a boy but the police were swift to quell the tension.
A resident of Nyamlel, who requested for confidentiality of his identity, told No. 1 Citizen Daily Newspaper that speculations of the priests molesting minors have been circulation for long.
“Those Indian priests have been sexually abusing our children all this time; from day one, we have been questioning their priesthood,” he said.
Aweil West County commissioner, Garang Peter Maduok told No. 1 Citizen Daily Newspaper from Northern Bahr El Ghazal State the clerics are already transported to the state capital for investigation.
“There are three priests, but not all of them are having problems. I think it was an act of one priest, but we took them to Aweil for safety and investigation,” he added.
The county commissioner explained that the clergymen are not in police custody and have been posted to another diocese until the probe is done.
“The investigation will be done; they are now in Aweil with other diocesans, but the situation is under control,” he stated.
Mr. Maduok called on the families of victims to follow the legal procedures to get justice.
“I want to tell the community and families of victims to follow it up administratively,” he urged.
However, when contacted, the Northern Bahr el Ghazal State Police Commissioner, Maj-Gen Philip Madut, said he was in Juba and didn’t have any information about the matter.
This seems to have been the first sex scandal involving men of God in South Sudan since independence.
There have been many cases of sexual abuse of children by priests, nuns, and other members of religious life in the Catholic Church around the world.
The cases have involved many allegations, investigations, trials, convictions, acknowledgements and apologies by church authorities, and revelations about decades of instances of abuse and attempts by church officials to cover them up.
The abused include mostly boys but also girls, some as young as three years old, with the majority between the ages of 11 and 14.