Chrism Mass in Torit

Last evening almost all of the priests serving in the Diocese of Torit gathered around Bishop Akio Johnson Mutek to renew their commitment to serving Christ and the Church and to join in the blessing of the Oil of the Sick and of Catechumens, and the consecration of the Sacred Chrism. Both the Mass and the dinner after were very encouraging experiences in the midst of the difficult challenges and circumstances that many of those priests face in their pastoral ministry. After dinner, Fr. Julius Ido, the diocese's oldest priest, gave a very moving personal testimony of the challenges he has faced as a priest, beginning with his first assignment which began two days after his ordination 43 years ago.

The photos below show the priests vested prior to the beginning of Mass, including one of Fr. Joseph Mawa of Nimule taking a photo of me as I was photographing him, Bishop Akio Johnson Mutek during the homily and at the blessing of the oil. The last shot is one of the River Nile I took while crossing it today, entering Juba (the capital city of South Sudan) today. Since we were following a man on foot driving a cow, we were driving slowly enough for me to take the photo.