As head of the Diocese of Bentiu, Bishop Christian Carlassare is called to start over from scratch, in a context devastated by conflict and floods. Where, most of all, people’s souls must first be rebuilt and reconciled.
Bentiu is a place on the edge of nowhere, in the northern part of South Sudan, on the border with Sudan. A place where the Bahr el Ghazal River has almost completely flooded the arid land of the Sahel, and much of the population has been displaced by war and floods.
“We are a poor Church among the poorest in South Sudan,” says Bishop Christian Carlassare, a 47-year-old Comboni missionary who, since July 2024, has led this new diocese, created from the division of Malakal. The territories are vast and inaccessible. There are virtually no roads. People get around mostly on foot, by motorbike, or by canoe. Or they don’t move at all.
The city of Bentiu, capital of Unity State, is a cluster of shacks made of mud, sheet metal, bamboo, and plastic sheeting. All the brick buildings were destroyed by bombing, as was the power plant. Rows of electricity pylons line what remains of the main road, only to disappear into the floodwaters that surround and threaten the entire area.
Not far away, a vast camp for displaced persons officially houses more than one hundred thousand people. They fled the fighting and bombings that ravaged South Sudan following its independence from Sudan in July 2011. They barely had time to raise their heads and imagine a future of peace and development before the country was plunged into a new war, this time fratricidal, from 2013 to 2018.
“Those were difficult years, even in remote regions like this,” the bishop comments. “Bentiu was one of the largest and most flourishing towns in South Sudan. Now, almost nothing remains. The floods have made the situation even more difficult. Those who wish to return home cannot do so because their land and villages are submerged, and there are no longer fields for cultivation or pastures for animals.”
And there is still no real peace. In addition to ongoing clashes between communities, especially over cattle theft and long-standing ethnic rivalries, the central government in Juba is indiscriminately bombing across the country to target and weaken the faction led by First Vice President Riek Macher, who has been under house arrest since last March. However, for the most part, it is the civilians who suffer.
“All this makes it difficult to advance any process of reconciliation,” notes the bishop, who in 2021 was himself the victim of an attack on the eve of his inauguration in Rumbek, a diocese slightly further south, of which he is still administrator. “The population is tired of conflict. They have seen and experienced the tragedy of the civil war, which also killed the great hope that had infected everyone at the birth of a finally free South Sudan. After nearly fifty years of liberation struggle, people truly believed that we could live in peace and that there could be better conditions for everyone, not just for a few.”
However, even in this new diocese where everything remains to be done, he does not give up on promoting reconciliation and keeping hope alive, starting with forgiveness: “Throughout our history, every time we have found ourselves in conflict, we have lost our way. This is a condition common to all our communities in South Sudan. No one can deny having committed evil. At the same time, all communities have the perception of having been, at some point in history, the victims of injustice and violence.
So, apart from the total lack of structures, there is also the question of building a sense of true belonging and unity. There are many ongoing projects, in every sense. The church is a sheet metal structure, as are all nine chapels in the displaced persons camp, cared for by three Polish Capuchin missionaries, who also live in a sheet metal house.
The classrooms of the school, which accommodate approximately 1,600 children, are mostly located under the trees in the courtyard. The diocese has seven parishes, nine diocesan priests (one of whom teaches in Juba), and three Comboni missionaries in Leer, all supported by catechists and pastoral workers. A united and unifying Church reconciled and reconciling.
This is the goal with which Bishop Carlassare has begun a journey that, starting with the Catholic communities, aims to instil confidence in an instilled population still deeply wounded and divided. “Starting from the teachings of the Second African Synod, we believe that evangelisation means reconciling and bringing individuals and peoples together, recognising their common identity and brotherhood,” the bishop comments.
Most people live thanks only to distributions made by the UN mission and can receive treatment almost exclusively thanks to the presence of Doctors Without Borders. Beyond humanitarian aid, access to food and medicine remains very difficult. There is a physical lack of space for cultivation due to flooding, and the little land available is arid and clayey. For the same reason, it is impossible to keep livestock, at most a few goats, while the large herds of cows, which in South Sudan represent the only true wealth of families, are kept in very distant areas, where there are pastures, often contested by different ethnic groups and clans.
Last year, 80% of the State of Unity, of which Bentiu is the capital, was covered by floodwater. This makes communication and the movement of people and goods also very difficult. Fruit and vegetables are virtually non-existent. And anyway, people wouldn’t have the money to buy them. Families don’t even have the resources to send their children to school. Many are holding out in the displaced persons camp, where people are packed into tiny shacks crammed together, precisely to access not only food aid but also the schools, even if they aren’t entirely free.
“There is a dramatic shortage of schools and teachers in this area”, the bishop confirms. “Perhaps it was part of a plan to marginalise these populations and keep them in ignorance and division. This is why I believe that school, like an eighth sacrament, will contribute to the liberation and salvation of these people. We, as a diocese, have several primary schools in our parishes, which we would like to develop as part of a broader educational project aimed at integral human development. From there, we can also consider secondary schools, vocational training, and perhaps distance learning programmes in collaboration with the Catholic University of South Sudan.”
The topic of education is also central for priests and pastoral workers. “My dream”, Bishp Carlassare concludes, “is that we break down the many barriers and boundaries that exist even within Catholic communities to become a truly prophetic Church, one that speaks of the Gospel and bears witness to its joy and hope.” (Anna Pozzi/MM) – (Photo: swm)
