Rumbek mourns its Bishop Ceasere Mazzolari, a tireless man of God
On Saturday July 16th the Bishop of Rumbek, South Sudan, Bishop Ceasere Mazzolari
died. The 74 year old Italian Comboni missionary suffered a seizure during the celebration
of morning Mass. With the help of the religious and the faithful present he was first
brought into the sacristy and then to his room. Subsequently he was taken to hospital
where he was declared dead. Only last Saturday, Msgr. Mazzolari had attended the
ceremony for the independence of Southern Sudan.
Bishop Mazzolari was born
Feb. 9, 1937 in Brescia. He joined the Comboni Missionaries, and on 17 March 1962
was ordained a priest. His mission brought him to Cincinnati, in the United States,
where he worked among African American and Mexican miners. In 1981 he arrived in Sudan:
first to the diocese of Tombura-Yambio, then the south-central Archdiocese of Juba.
In 1990, Bishop Mazzolari became apostolic administrator of the diocese of Rumbek
(South Sudan). That same year, he helped free 150 child slaves. In 1991 he reopened
the mission of Yirol, the first of man, some of which subsequently had to be abandoned
during the protracted Sudanese war. In 1994 he was captured and held hostage for 24
hours by guerrillas of the SPLA (Sudan People's Liberation Army), the separatist armed
group fighting against the Khartoum government. On 6 January 1999 he was ordained
a bishop by Pope John Paul II.
For 30 years, Msgr. Mazzolari lived courageously
in the midst of his people by sharing the impact of war and poverty. He constantly
appealed to the global community "not to forget that the people of South Sudan need
a just peace in respect of human rights." As a bishop he dramatically spoke out against
the war: "Sudan is the poorest of the poor in Africa: 40 years of tribal warfare whose
sole aim is the conquest of power and the acquisition of resources such as oil, water
and gold, found in large quantities. " Then last Saturday he was among the leaders
of civil society who addressed the jubilant people of South Sudan on the birth of
the nation.
Here he is remembered by his fellow Comboni Missionary, Fr. Giulio
Albanese, who was captured together with the late Bishop by the SPLA in 1994: Listen