His Lordship Bishop Santo Loku Pio welcoming speech

Your Eminence,

The priests, the religious brothers and sisters have been praying for you since the day you left. And all the time keeping you in their prayers but somewhere else they were now becoming more anxious and say Bishop Santo where is the Cardinal? What is happening? so I tried to go around and encourage them that the Cardinal is okay, he’s fine, he’s doing well, he’s taking his medication and the doctors have checked everything, he’s okay but then as time goes then they again say but where is he?

Now I’m happy that you are back. They are also happy that you are back. We have passed this information to all the religious communities and institutions that the cardinal is arriving today. so, this representation of the few leaders and religious brothers and sisters is just to symbolize that you have come back and you are back home. so, we are grateful.

We don’t have much at this stage just to say welcome.

and you bless them, then they go back to continue their duties. So far nobody has run away. They all remain in their assignment. They are happy with the exception of other difficulties like Father Emmanuel Omolo who lost his mother. He is the only parish priest who is out because he has to go for the burial of his mother. But the rest are here, heads of institutions and parishes carrying on their duties happily. We celebrated Easter nicely and all the other celebrations are on and we continue. We are happy that you are back.

I think the Christian community are also happy that you are back because of this anxiety they’ve been asking when is the cardinal coming back? you know when the father of the house is not there the children will ask even if They know, they will still ask “Baba wen?” And you have to keep explaining every day that he is here, he is there, and he is coming and so on. So, this is the situation. Juba is a bit hot, little rain, and the situation is not very much appealing because of the economic situation. People are suffering, there is a lot of hunger.

But there is also a lot of death. People are dying suddenly. There is a lot of frustration because of the situation. And we are trying to encourage our people that things will improve. Let them keep on. A lot of robbery. People are being hijacked here and there and so on. We were this morning with these religious for the traffic police. They are harassing them all over.

Even the castles, the church, even on Sunday the priest going for mass, will be stopped. So, we try to solve those issues. But normally everything is okay. We are managing by God’s grace. So, thank you very much and you are welcome. You can now say a few words, and bless us.

Speech of the Cardinal

Thank you. Your Lordship, Bishop Santo Loku Pio, Reverend Fathers, Reverend Sisters, Reverend brothers, my dear laity people, and my auxiliary staff in the house, thank you very much for this warm welcome that you have accorded to the sick person. You have gone from here struggling to catch up with the life which is sometimes difficult. And I remember when I left you on the Holy Wednesday,

We are already preparing for the Eucharistic celebration. But after consulting many of you, including Bishop Santo and other people, I felt that I was unable to accomplish the Holy Week prayers because I saw all my activities reduced to zero.

and I felt that I should look for a doctor. Indeed, I went because my blood pressure was no more normal. It went up and so as a result my doctor in Nairobi advised me to come because I had been following the doctor in the hospital of Karen, Dr. Dan K. Gikonyo

since 2024 and because of my diabetic condition and also pressure. And so, when I arrived there on Wednesday, immediately I went on Saturday to the hospital and he immediately told me that he’s not going to put me in the award of the common people.

he will take me to his private clinic where I will have to recover, recuperate there. And so, I was taken there, conscious. Remember when I went from here, I went on foot. On my own, I was conscious. But of course, after sometime, the treatment has to take place. And I took almost all this treatment.

The blood pressure could not come down. The whole of April until the 14th of April, it did not come down. Only afterward, then my blood pressure came down. But as you know, the blood pressure always comes with all the effects.

There are many effects that it can cause. And those effects might be affecting the internal organs or the senses and so forth. And so, the doctor say I have to undergo some test. I have to undergo all the tests of the body, the whole organs of the body. And so, the doctor told me, “Your organs are okay.

But there was a problem with my left eye. This left eye of mine had a lot of bleeding inside. And so, it has caused me a lot of pain. This was now a different doctor already.

You know the pressure always affects the senses, the organs. So, one of my organs, this left eye, was affected seriously. And I had to undergo operation. The first operation never succeeded. I remained 14 days and more. The eye here could not open. Then I had to go for a second operation.

by a very specialist doctor from India who succeeded to wash the blood in my eye and cleanse the eye. At least today I am able to see at least how virtually I am able to see some of you. So that is the condition why my health has to take me for a longer time. I think exactly it is already two months and almost ten days when I left from here. However, I would like to thank you. I think I was not going to come out intact like this with my senses, with all my capacity to talk and to say words and to initiate the word because the doctor told me that it was a serious blood pressure which went until almost 240 which was terrible. But however, because of your prayers, your resilient prayers, I am able to come to you here. Thank you to my brother Bishop Santo, who have kept you together, not to get discouraged because many questions were already given him and he has no way of answering because the archbishop disappeared suddenly like that. And so, it is not easy. However, after all this, I have to say to Father Abe, please go home

At least we came here for some 10 days in order to explain to people, especially in the curia, about my condition. My condition was improving and of course I cannot come unless the doctor tells me that, okay, now you go. You know, it’s always good to respect the authority of the doctor.

a doctor or somebody who is responsible for you. So, the doctor kept me all this time there. He told me that you cannot go, otherwise a lot of things can happen to you which are not okay. And so finally when we went, the last review, especially for the eye, the last review was recently on the 19th, which they postponed it until Friday.

And so, we have to meet the doctor on Friday. And for that review, we told me that, okay, now your eye is improving. So, you can go home. We will come and meet on the 8th of July. So, the condition, the doctor is still keeping me in Nairobi. He does not like to release me. So,

But all in all, I would like to reiterate this, that your prayers have helped me. If I have come out of the hospital now intact like this, it is because of you all. Each one of you.

Every time, especially my priest, every time you pray the Eucharist, you mention me and God has really accepted your prayers and your individual prayers. And may you continue to be like that. The church is not only the bishop. All of us together are the church. The church that is capable of loving one another

And with your warm welcome, I feel that I have people behind me. Even if something happens, the church will continue.

because the church is not the church of Cardinal Stephen, it is the church of Christ, which is able to live and be strong because all of you are committed in doing your own tasks as in different tasks that you do in the church. And so, all in all, let us thank God for this great moment and let us thank all of you for this important welcome, warm welcome. I thank you for your prayers. May God bless you. May God keep us together, united in love so that we can continue to serve him as long as he gives us this energy that we take sometimes for granted, you know. I have never had a situation like this

two months of sickness. I have never heard that this is the time. But as I know, I learned from my Lord, the Lord said, this sickness leads to the glory. When Lazarus got sick, he said the sickness of Lazarus will lead to the glory of God. So, each one of us who suffers in sickness, it always leads to the glory of God. And I think with all this, we say God is still with us and He continues to push us together and to work together, especially all of you who are responsible in different institutions, the parish priest,

different departments and all our high institutes. I thank you for having come to welcome me, and may God continue to bless all of us. Thank you.

++ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. ++ Amen.

Lord our father, we thank you for the gift of health.

We thank you for the gift of energy that you continue to give each one of us in order to serve you in all our different capacities. As we live, we always have this setback in our health, but you always come to cure us. You are the first doctor who walks through the hands of the doctors so that we can still acquire a better health.

As we thank you, we remind ourselves of the importance of the angels who accompany us, especially angel Gabriel, angel Michael, angel Raphael, who always protect us from the adversities. Bless all these people who are in need of better health and better conditions of their life.

Bless our country and bless all our religious people so that they continue to persevere in this life.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Amen

We ask also our mother who accompanies us always, as we say,

Hail Mary Hail Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.

The Lord be with you.

And with your spirit.

Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Now and forever.

Our help is in the name of the Lord.

Who made heaven and earth.

And may Almighty God bless you,

The Father + the Son + and the Holy Spirit +.

 Amen.

Let us remain in the peace of Christ.

Thanks be to God.

On this important feast, the solemnity of the most holy body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, our children are telling us the insight of our faith: that Jesus may stay with us, that Jesus may make us holy, and that Jesus may continue to teach us about his presence in the Holy Eucharist. His presence—fully present in the Eucharist, in his body, in his blood, soul, and divinity—this is our faith. This is the faith of the Catholic Church. This is the faith that, after this, we are going to renew our baptismal promises in, here in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, fully God and fully human, for the salvation of our souls.

The sequence that we just heard being sung in Latin was giving us the meaning of this solemnity today. It is telling us that, “Lord, the angel’s food is given to the pilgrim who have striven.” For all those who strive, the angel’s food will be given.

Do you remember when the Canaanite woman came to Jesus and was pleading with him? The disciples came and spoke, and Jesus noted how Gentiles were called “dogs” by those outside the firstborn children of God, meaning the food of the children should not be given to them. Now, in this sequence, we are given a new beginning, a new birth, and a new status so that we may be called children of God through our baptism.

The sequence tells us that truth, “the ancient types fulfilling, Isaac bound, a victim willing.” Isaac was a type of Jesus. When Isaac was to be sacrificed, he was the only son of his father Abraham, and God asked for him to be offered. But then God provided a ram instead of Isaac, because Isaac was not the ultimate fulfillment of the Old Testament. Jesus is.

And when the people of Israel came out of Egypt, God, even in their stubbornness, gave them the bread of the angels to eat. That is why Moses said when he spoke to the people in the first reading, taken from the book of Deuteronomy 8:2-3 and 14-16: “You shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you these 40 years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.”

Did they keep it? They were falling every time, but the Lord kept his love, kept his commandment, and gave them the food of the angels that they may be led. For their stubbornness, they were punished for 40 years to reach the promised land, but the Lord kept his covenant.

For our sins and for our stubbornness, the Lord fulfilled his covenant by bringing to us his only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Today, in the Gospel of John, Jesus is telling us: “Truly, truly…” And when he says “truly, truly,” he is affirming exactly who he is. Jesus told us that he is the way, the truth, and the life. If today, here in St. John’s Gospel, he is repeating it truly, “…Truly, truly, amen, amen, listen carefully, my dear brother, my dear sister—you who have been drawn to become a son and a daughter of God. And Jesus is telling us today: ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat of the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.’ Does it sing within you? Does it make sense to you today that on this day the Catholic Church should celebrate the most holy body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ?

Does it hit you that as you are made sons and daughters, you are called to be part of the people who are partaking of his body and blood? Do you need new life within you? Then on this day of the celebration of Jesus’ presence in the Holy Eucharist—body, blood, soul, and divinity—let your light shine. May the words just now said by our children renew your faith that Jesus may stay with you. By partaking of his body and blood, may he make you holy. Always, as you come to church, may he continue to teach you about the things of heaven, because this food—his body, his blood—is food for our journey, our journey to heaven.

My dear brothers and sisters, the Holy Eucharist has been the mark of our Christian faith. Even from the Old Testament, we see the foreshadowing, and we know that the Christians of the New Testament, from the Acts of the Apostles, gathered to break bread. And as they gathered to break bread, they adored Jesus. They renewed their faith and they called upon him to remain with them so that they might be evangelizers, going out to preach Him who is present in the Holy Eucharist.

Our Christian identity has undergone a number of trials. Christians of old were even stopped from celebrating the Mass. I want to draw your attention to this: if they who went before us held the Mass so dear, we, the Christians of today, on this solemn day of the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, have to say, “Jesus, renew my faith in you, that I may carry the spirit of all the saints, and especially the martyrs who died carrying you.”

One of the best examples we can give here is Saint Tarcisius. In the third century, he was a young man. If we were to count his age, he would be the age of these children in the choir here, these altar servers, these crusaders. Because the elderly were put in prison for the very reason of the Holy Eucharist—for their faith in the Holy Eucharist—this young, energetic acolyte was sent to take the Holy Eucharist to those in prison. Saint Tarcisius did this every Sunday.

Then, one Sunday, he was caught. He was caught by pagan soldiers, a pagan group of people, and was threatened to surrender the Holy Eucharist—to surrender Jesus, in whom he had utmost faith. What he did was grab Jesus, hold Him to his chest, and say, “I will never surrender him.” And because of that, they killed him. They killed him while he was holding the Eucharist. Today, because of his immense love and zeal for the Blessed Sacrament, Saint Tarcisius is honored as the patron saint of altar servers and acolytes. Brothers and sisters, what we see here simply as a piece of bread, our faith tells us is something far greater. Every time we celebrate the Mass on this altar, God is actively at work, performing a continuous miracle so that we—even as sinners—might partake of his body and blood. He does this so that we might become his brothers and sisters, because he said, “I’ve shown you everything. I’ve told you everything that I learned from my father.”

I urge you and plea with you: do not take up the arguments of those who questioned Jesus, asking, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” Jesus answers them directly, saying, “Truly, truly, if I do not give you my body to eat and my blood to drink, you will have no life in you.” May these words resonate deep within us today.

Today, we also remember all those who have died for this truth, including the Uganda Martyrs. They died because they believed in the Eucharist. They died because they believed in Jesus and refused to part ways with him. Whether we are alive or dead, we belong to the Lord. When the time comes, let us defend him. Let us open our mouths and our lips to boldly say, “I believe in him.” This is why the Catholic Church teaches that wilfully missing Sunday Mass is a grave sin.

Let us recall one of the most powerful testimonies from the early Church. During the brutal Roman persecution under Emperor Diocletian, a group of saints known as the Martyrs of Abitene in North Africa were arrested for gathering secretly. When the Roman proconsul demanded to know why they disobeyed the imperial decree, they answered with words that should echo in our hearts forever: “Sine dominico non possumus”—”Without the Lord’s Day, we cannot live.” They chose to be murdered and martyred rather than live a life without the Sunday Eucharist.

We must look at our own history and devotion. When we were in Khartoum, almost no Christian remained at home on Sunday. Christians who were forced to work on the Sabbath found the courage to defy those laws, saying, “I will gladly leave this job if you stop me from coming to the Sunday celebration.” Yet today, we are a free nation. We are citizens of South Sudan. We craved to have our own country, and the Lord graciously gave us this land. But tragically, today, a number of us are denying Sunday worship. A number of us are failing to honor Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, even while calling ourselves Catholic Christians. May the bells continue to ring in our ears until we come out to pray: “Jesus, stay with me. Jesus, make me holy. Jesus, teach me always.”

I want to conclude by sharing a beautiful message about Blessed Carlo Acutis, an Italian youth who died of leukemia in 2006 at the tender age of 15. He was a young man who thoroughly understood modern technology. At that young age, he used his computer skills to document and teach the world about Eucharistic miracles, cutting across oceans from Lanciano to South America. Knowing he was close to death, his famous saying was, “The Eucharist is my highway to heaven.” Brothers and sisters, let these children in our choir and our altar servers remind us of Carlo Acutis’ beautiful witness.

Let us learn a profound lesson from this young saint, whose spirit is mirrored in the presence of our children today. Dear brother and sister, love the Eucharist above all else—even above yourself—because it is Jesus Himself. Attend Mass regularly and faithfully. Every time you enter the church doors, let your heart beat with excitement because you are standing face-to-face with the God who redeemed you from your sins. Spend quality time in Eucharistic adoration; we host adoration here every Thursday, yet some of us rush away instead of rushing toward Him.

May this Sunday entirely renew our faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us use our modern technology to evangelize his presence, just like Carlo Acutis did. Strive for holiness in the midst of your ordinary daily life, knowing that your Lord lives. Carry this sentence with you and repeat it always: The Eucharist is my highway to heaven.

THE ASCENSION OF THE LORD.

60th Word Day of Social Communications

17/05/2026.

The Catholic Archdiocese of Juba celebrated the Solemnity of Ascension of the Lord and the 60th World day of Social Communications under the theme: Preserving Human Faces and Voices. The mass was officiated by His Lordship Santo Loku Pio, the Auxiliary Bishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Juba; He encourage people to Hear what the angles said as Christ left, that they should not look up; Christ will return just as they had witnessed him going; nevertheless, the mission given to the Apostles is to go out and preach, baptize all who believed in the name of the Father, and of the son and of the Holy Spirit. this He said is the work given to us; all of us are commissioned.

below is the full text of his homily:

The solemnity of the Ascension signifies the start of the church’s journey. The Church as a moving instrument towards the intended destination to where the father is. With the resurrection, the Church started its long journey to where it belongs and always in the company of the master. That is why it is always said, The Church is Divine, for Christ is its master; and Human for it is entrusted to his Apostles and disciples, to us.

According to St. Augustine, the church recognizes two kinds of life as having been commended to her by God. One is a life of faith, the other a life of vision; one is a life passed on pilgrimage in time, the other in a dwelling place in eternity; one is a life of toil, the other of repose; one is spent on the road and the other in our homeland; one is active, involving labour, the other contemplative, the reward of labour. All of the first life is lived in this world, and it ends here with this imperfect world, while the second life have no end and that was why Christ said to Peter, Follow me.

The Gospel of Mathew (Mt 28:16-20) and the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 1:1-11), recounts how Jesus entered the glory of his eternal Father. This feast of the Ascension invites us to look to the earth, to people among whom, we are and called to make present the works of the master. As such, the church of the resurrection is the church that is not to look up, but fully focused on the path and mission to new life as true witnesses. We are given a chance to practice the very charity Christ himself taught us by the help of the Holy Spirit, the teacher and guide.

The 2^nd reading from the letter of St. Paul to the Ephesian (Eph. 1:17-23), completes the message that even though we must keep our eyes on earth, we know that human life is not enclosed by it nor does it end within the narrow confines of this world. With Jesus giving the farewell discourse to his disciples as time has come for him to ascend into the new life, after experiencing our own, which landed him on the cross.

The disciples must start moving on with the steps of the new life that he taught them, so that, they too will overcome the cross. In this new journey, the disciples are to receive the Holy Spirit, which will make them more of disciples not only in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria but to the ends of the earth.

Remember, he told Peter, feed my lambs, sheep; love one another as I loved you. Care for one another, wash the feed of one another, take charge of your calling(vocation) and all that I taught you and you will follow me where ever I go. So, our life is not limited here on earth, we are on move to our Lord’s throne the same way he went. And he said, I will be with you, yes to the end of ages.

As we embrace this mission of being witnesses to the ends of the earth, we must now be able to show the world that Christ is alive in me and so in us. We are called to holiness of life, and so invite others to the holiness as well, ready to preach Christ amidst suffering and death, knowing that the down of the resurrection is awaiting all of us.

The Holy Spirit will help us to reach to the very end of our mission as witnesses to truth, justice, peace, love and care to our fellow humans and to the creation, always producing the fruits of the Holy Spirit. +++

Today will also celebrate, together with the universal people of God the world’s communication day under the theme: “preserving Human Voices and faces”. The Holy Father Pope Leo XIV said, in his message for the 60th world day of social communication and I quote; “Our faces and voices are unique, distinctive features of every person; they reveal a person’s own unrepeatable identity and are defining elements of every encounter with others; faces are Sacred. God who created us in his image and likeness, gave them to us when he called us to life through the word he addressed to us. This word resounded down the centuries through the voices of the prophets, and then became flesh in the fullness of time. We too have heart and seen this word (cf. I Jn. 1:1-3), in which God communicates his very self to us, because it has been made known to us in the voice and face of Jesus Christ the son of God.

Hence; preserving human faces and voices, therefore, means preserving this mark, this indelible reflection of God’s love. The work of communicators, journalists is a work that builds: it builds society, it builds the Church, it makes everyone go forward, provided that it is true. Nevertheless, we need to ask ourselves, are you true? Not only in the things you say, but you inwardly, in your life, you true?” it is a challenge. To communicate what God does with the Son, and the communication of God with the Son and the holy Spirit it must be true. To communicate something divine and of divine nature, the human face and voices. What are you saying about what you see and hear, in you and around you? Are you true?

This celebration of the world communication; is being celebrated at different moment and levels in the history of humanity, with the world still wounded by wars and violence, by shedding of so much innocent blood including our own country. Recently in Lo’bonok, Lirya, Mundri East etc. For the last 13 good years, unnecessary killing of our innocent people has been taking place all-over our country. Most of whom are Women, children’s innocent villagers who don’t know even why they are killed and why they are forced out of their villages to die of hunger elsewhere in the PoCs or the refugee camps and in the bushes. How long should these continue? And why?

Therefore, I would first like to say thank you to all the communication workers who risks their own lives to seek out the truth and to report the horrors of wars and unjust treatment of the human faces. “I wish to remember in prayer all those who have sacrificed their lives in this last year, one of the most lethal for journalists. Let us pray in silence for your colleagues who have signed their service with their own blood”.

I would also want to remember, together with you, all those who are imprisoned merely for having been faithful to the profession of journalist, photographer, video operator, for wanting to see with their own eyes and for trying to report what they have seen. There e many of them; I asked those who have the power to do so, to free all unjustly imprisoned journalists. May a door be open for them too, through which they may return to freedom, because the freedom of journalists increases the freedom of us all. Their freedom is freedom for all of us.

Many do say, that the freedom of the press and freedom of thought be defended and safeguarded along with the fundamental rights to be informed. Free, responsible and correct knowledge is a legacy of knowledge, experience and virtue that must be preserved and promoted. Without this, we risk no longer distinguishing truth from lies; without this. We expose ourselves to growing prejudices and polarizations that destroy the bonds of civil coexistence and prevent fraternity from being rebuilt.

Journalism is more than a profession; it is a vocation and a mission. The role played by Angel Gabriel the heavenly journalist in the holy Scripture. Communicators have the fundamental role for our society today, in reporting facts and in the way in which you report them. We know the language, attitude and tones can be decisive and make the difference between communication that rekindles hope, build bridges and open doors and communications that instead increases division, polarizations and simplifications of reality.

Communication is a peculiar responsibility; it is a precious task. Communications’ tools of trade words and images. But before these are study and reflection, the capacity to see and listen carefully; to place yourselves in the position of those who are marginalized, of those who are neither seen nor heard, and also revive, in the hearts of those who read, listen and look at you, the meaning of good and evil and a nostalgia for the good that you report and by reporting it, bear witness to; and this need courage.

You need to have, and speak of the importance of courage to initiate the change that history demands of us, the change necessary to overcome lies and hatred killing our nations and people. It is true, it takes courage to initiate change which means to have heart; it is that inner drive, that strength that comes from the heart that enables us to face difficulties and challenges without being overwhelmed by fear.

If we fail in this task of preservation, the digital technology threatens to alter radically some of the fundamental pillars of human civilization that at times are taken for granted. Freedom is the courage to choose. Let us take the opportunity today to renew, to rediscover this courage. The courage to free the heart from what corrupts it. Let’s place respect for the highest and most noble part of our humanity at the Centre of the heart, let us avoid filling it with what decays and makes it decay.

We need media literacy, to be educated on the components of information sharing, with well trained and honest information engineers; full of courage, to bring about the communion of enlightened hearts that can feel the face and the voices of others, without turning blind eye to critical issues, complexities and risks.

The Pope concluded by saying; though the digital technology can assist us, let us not renounce our ability to think. Kindly, some journalists end up relaying on the (Al) Artificial intelligence and technology for judgement, that is not enough; Al must be guided by human intelligence not the other way round. Do your works with dedication.

Let us congratulate all our media practitioners, congratulations our journalists, wherever you might be, and may the Lord bless you all.

+In the name of the father and of the Son and of the holy Spirit. Amen. +

Born in 1964 in Ido, Cardinal Ameyu, a Lotuko, son of Martin Mulla and Elisabeth Ibalu. His journey of faith began early when he was baptized in 1969 by catechist Marchello T. Tio. From his foundational years at Langaro Primary School (1971) and Ribok Primary School (1972–1974), his path steadily reflected a growing commitment to his calling.

In 1978, he attended Junior Seminary in Torit, continuing later to Wau Senior Seminary in 1981. His formation deepened at the Major Seminary in Bussere, Munuki, and Khartoum, where he completed his theological studies and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Theology (cum laude).

On April 21, 1991, he was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Torit by Archbishop Gabriel Zubeir—a defining moment that marked the beginning of his lifelong mission in the vineyard of the Lord.

Cardinal Mulla’s service has been rich and impactful. He began his pastoral ministry at St. Matthew’s Cathedral, serving as priest in charge of Shendi, Jebel Awlia, and Kamlin centers. In 1992, he served as assistant parish priest in Atbara, before becoming parish priest of Shendi.

His desire for deeper theological understanding led him to Rome in 1993, where he pursued advanced studies. He returned in 1997 with a Doctorate in Sacred Theology, and generously shared his knowledge as a professor at St. Paul’s National Major Seminary, helping to form future generations of priests.

Over the years, his leadership and commitment have seen him rise in service to the Church, now serving as a Cardinal—continuing to shepherd God’s people with wisdom, humility, and a deep sense of mission.

Today, as we celebrate his anniversary, we honor not just the years of his priesthood, but the lives he has touched, the faith he has strengthened, and the hope he continues to inspire.

May God continue to bless Cardinal Stephen Ameyu Martin Mulla with good health, renewed strength, and deeper joy in his calling. May his priesthood remain a guiding light for many for years to come.

Happy Priestly Anniversary!