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Posted by admin in Bishop Macram Max Gassis, faithful shepherd of the Diocese of El Obeid in Sudan, is a near-legendary figure in Sudan since he first spoke out against human rights abuses in his country before a committee of the U.S. Congress in 1988.
Born in 1938 in Sudan, he did his seminary studies in Italy and England, returning to Sudan as a parish priest in 1964. By 1968, he was chancellor of the Khartoum archdiocese, and five years later, began a long tenure as secretary-general of the Sudanese Bishops’ Conference.
In 1979, he received a degree in canon law and administration from Catholic University. He chaired Caritas, Sudan, in the early 1980’s and, after five years as apostolic administrator of the El Obeid diocese in central Sudan—an area the size of Italy—he was consecrated as its bishop in 1988.
The new bishop acted as liaison between the Catholic bishops and the government until he was placed under criminal indictment by the authorities for criticizing Sudan’s human rights record abroad. In 1990, Bishop Gassis was diagnosed with cancer and went to the U.S. for treatment.
There he learned that the Sudanese government had barred his return. This proved to be a major turning point in the bishop’s life. Realizing that he was in a unique position to alert the world to the sufferings of Christians in his war-torn country, Bishop Macram briefed bishops’ conferences and government representatives.