Archbishop Horgan poses for a photo with Unity State officials upon arrival in Bentiu. May 6, 2025. (Photo: Office of the Governor, Unity State/Facebook).

BENTIU, (Eye Radio) – The Vatican Ambassador to South Sudan Archbishop H.G. Seamus Horgan is in Unity State capital, Bentiu, to celebrate 100 years since the birth of Christianity and the arrival of Catholic Church there.

Archbishop Horgan arrived in Bentiu on May 6 and was received by Governor Riek Bim and cabinet officials at the state general secretariat. The centenary celebrations will happen this Sunday, 11th May 2025.

“H.G. Sheamus Patrick Horgan is set to grace the celebration of the centenary coming Sunday, marking 100 years since the birth of Christianity in Unity State, the then Yoanyang,” a statement from the governor’s office said.

During a brief meeting, Horgan “appreciated the state government for standing with the church on important initiatives that help in developing the newly created Diocese of Bentiu.”

On his part, Governor Bim reportedly promised his administrative support for the faith-based institution, which he has credited with building peace among the South Sudanese people.

Late Pope Francis established the Catholic Diocese of Bentiu on July 3, 2024, after dissociating the territory from the Diocese of Malakal, making it a suffragan of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Juba.

The former Holy See then appointed Bishop Christian Carlassare as the first ordinary of the newly establish Bentiu Diocese, which is the eighth Catholic diocese to be created in the country in decades.

Bishop Carlassare was serving as Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Rumbek. The clergyman was born in Italy, on October 1, 1977, and graduated from the Institute of the Comboni Missionaries in 2003 before he was ordained a priest on September 4, 2004.

In 2005, Carlassare was sent on a mission to South Sudan where he held various positions including Deputy Parish Priest, Parish Priest, Vocations Promoter, and Director of the orientation course for the Comboni Missionaries.

He also served as a member of the Secretariat of Vocational Animation and Basic Training, Councillor Provincial of the Comboni Missionaries, and Vice-Provincial of the Province of the Comboni Missionaries in South Sudan.

From 2020 to 2021, he served as Vicar General of the Diocese of Malakal when he was elected and consecrated as the Bishop of Rumbek.