Visit to the Ruins of Okaru Seminary

View of Lowoi and its roofless church from the road going up the mountain to Okaru.

Visiting the parish community of Lowoi gave us the opportunity of visiting the historical site of Okaru seminary, which sits atop the mountain behind the village. The first thing that impressed me is how well the road leading up the steep face of the mountain was constructed and supported by retaining walls made of rock. At several points as the road weaves back and forth there are magnificent views of the valley below.

Some of the impressive ruins of Okaru seminary.

The main structure of the seminary had a classical design with a chapel at one end and the dining hall at the other, with classrooms (that still had blackboards on the walls) in between - all joined by a long hallway. It was adorned with beautiful arches and cornices and had an additional story that opened out onto the lower elevation behind.

The chapel and altar.

Fr. Herald walking through the refectory or dining room.

The missionaries who constructed the seminary were ingenious and creative engineers. Their first feat was building the road and getting all the materials to the top. They also had to make sure there was enough water for the fairly large seminary population residing on the mountain top, so they used the combination of rain water stored in cisterns and dammed a spring located a kilometer or so from the main compound and lined the path there with mango tress that still bear fruit.

The missionaries dammed a nearby spring
to serve as a water source for the seminary.

A cistern used to store rain water.

In addition to the main building there were a significant number of "satellite" buildings reflecting the large and diversified population of the site. In addition to priests and seminarians there were Sacred Heart Brothers from the US who taught the younger boys and religious sisters who assisted in various ways.

Ruins of additional buildings (also below).

I had very mixed feelings as I walked through the grounds of Okaru. We were all struck by the beauty and tranquility of the place. It's an ideal location for prayer, study and formation. You couldn't help but think about all the young men who passed through there and went on to become priests serving in Sudan or laymen working in other fields. In fact many older men in the diocese who are still alive, including high ranking government officials, studied there and have fond memories of the place. Last year a group of them made a pilgrimage to the site and celebrated Mass on the grounds. I also thought about Fr. Saturnino Ohure, the southern resistance leader buried in Torit, who also spent some time at the seminary. I wondered about the Sacred Heart Brothers from the US who served there.

Tragically all that came to an abrupt end when the foreign missionaries were expelled from Sudan in 1964 during the first civil war by the Islamist regime ruling in the north. Okaru closed the following year. How different the life of the Church in Sudan might have been if Okaru and other institutions like it had been allowed to flourish and prosper. In addition to its beauty, there is a deep sense of sorrow that lingers in these abandoned ruins. May that sorrow one day give birth to a renewal of places like Okaru for the formation of the minds and hearts of Sudanese youth.

Team photo with Fr. Joseph Ochan (second from left)
and two guides on the precipice overlooking the valley below.

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