Parish Patronal Feast in Chukudum

Our little entourage, consisting of the bishop, two Didinga (the local tribe) priests of the diocese who are natives of Chukudum but are currently assigned elsewhere, and myself, arrived in the village late Saturday afternoon. Among those who were waiting to greet us were these two very joyful elderly catechists. Although he walks with a cane, the one on the left prostrated in front of the altar during the Consecration of the Mass the next day; the one on the right wears a prosthesis on the lower part of his right leg.


Preparations began early the next morning for the celebration. The parish is named in honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus; the parish celebration was transferred Friday to Sunday to allow for greater participation.


Three different age groups of girls and young women, each dressed in a distinct colorful uniform, danced for the celebration during processions at different points in the Mass.


The parish church, built by Comboni missionaries more than half a century ago (they along with other foreign missionaries were expelled by the Islamic government in Khartoum in the 1960s - one of the causes of the first civil war), was packed.



Bishop Akio Johnson Mutek, flanked by two seminarians from the village in the photo below, celebrated and preached at the Mass. Chukudum has historically been a prodigious source of priestly and religious vocations.


I was seated directly in front of this young man as he "directed" the choir. I should say "danced" instead of directed, because he moved to the music with his entire body. Every once in a while he would shake his shoulders and upper body to the beat and let go with a flourish of his arms and hands. It was really something to watch.


Below is a group photo with the bishop in front of the church after Mass, and a close up of one of the younger participants who evidently put on her best for the occasion. She sat on the steps of the sanctuary just in front of me for most of the Mass.