Disaster has been narrowly averted after reports that Sudanese seminarians returning from exile were facing a dire shortage of food.
The 45 junior seminarians were all set to go back to start the new term at St. Josephine’s Minor Seminary in southern Sudan when pastoral coordinator Marcellus Nkafu declared that food and other basic needs were in very short supply. In response to an urgent appeal, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), the charity for persecuted and other suffering Christians, has given $39,700 in urgent assistance to the seminary in Mapuordit in the Diocese of Rumbek.
The grant comes as the seminary staff need funding for staple supplies – rice, lentils, flour, beans and cooking oil. Mr. Nkafu said, “We are very grateful for the enormous support we have enjoyed from Aid to the Church in Need, without which we would not have been able to do anything.” ACN is considering giving more aid.
In the long term, the seminary leaders are hoping to produce much of the food on site.
Mr. Nkafu said, “We hope they can raise some food for the future through gardening and raising pigs.” They already have two pigs but cannot expand the litter because they lack funds. While some cultivation of the vast compound took place last year, most crops were lost after goats wandered into the compound and ate them. Mr. Nkafu said, “We are looking forward to fencing the compound of the seminary.” New fencing will cost $67,600.
The minor seminarians, who were forced into exile during the conflict in south Sudan, have returned to their native country at a time when their bishops have been prioritizing clergy formation, especially after the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement. That year saw the start of the plan to move the seminarians to Mapuordit. ACN provided $241,000 in aid for the new seminary buildings, which were inaugurated by Bishop Cesare Mazzolari in June 2007.
Key to the move to Rumbek was that the students divide their time between St Josephine’s and a nearby Catholic secondary school. Over the holidays the seminarians return to their home parishes. Close contact with parish clergy enables seminary staff to follow the students’ formation closely. Students pay their own school fees as well as transportation costs between home and school. According to Mr. Nkafu, this encourages the seminarians against an attitude of dependency.
Minor Seminaries exist to provide a good education and spiritual formation for potential candidates for priesthood, religious life, and key lay ministries. Mr. Nkafu added, “Although the construction of the Minor Seminary has not been easy, we have achieved quite a lot already.”
With pictures: Bishop Cesare Mazzolari inaugurates the ACN-funded St. Josephine’s Minor Seminary, Mapuordit, Rumbek, south Sudan
