UNITED KINGDOM: Heroic priests at October events

By John Newton

Bishop Eduardo Hiiboro of Sudan, who will speak at Aid to the Church in Need's Hope Without Fear events in England and Scotland in October

Two heroic priests are coming to England and Scotland in October to speak about their groundbreaking work in areas of the world where there has been terrible violence.

Bishop Eduardo Hiiboro is leading his Church through attacks against the Church in South Sudan, while Father Michael Shields is working with survivors of a communist gulag in Siberia.

They will both be guests-of-honour at Aid to the Church in Need’s Hope Without Fear events next month.

The series begins with the annual Westminster Mass and event on Saturday, 16^th October. Sung Latin Mass is at 10.30am in the cathedral, and will be followed by talks in the cathedral hall.

Proceedings continue the nexy day (Sunday, 17^th October) with an Edinburgh event at Saint Mary’s cathedral hall. Talks being at 5.30pm, with Mass immediately after.

And on Monday, 18^th October, our Glasgow event takes place at Saint Simon’s Church, Partick Bridge Street, at 7pm.

Bishop Hiiboro’s diocese of Tombura-Yambio, on Sudan’s border with the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic, has been repeatedly targeted by armed groups, including the Lord’s Resistance Army.

In autumn 2009 the LRA was accused of ambushing Catholics in a forest outside Nzara, close to state capital, Yambio.

A few days later the corpses of six people were found nailed to pieces of wood in what was described as a crucifixion scene.

Despite these challenges the Church has continued to grow under Bishop Hiiboro with Mass attendance reportedly trebling in under a decade.

Father Michael Shields left his native Alaska to work in the equally cold clime of Magadan in Siberia – the site of a former communist gulag camp where millions died.

Father Shields ministers to those who survived the harsh conditions of the camps and has ensured their stories are told and their suffering acknowledged by the authorities.

He also helped establish pro-life work in a country where abortion is reportedly still very widespread.

In 2008 he opened the first Nativity Inn in Ola, a small village outside Magadan, providing short-term accommodation for pregnant mothers.

Speaking to Aid to the Church in Need, which has given key support for his work, he said: “The Lord is blessing our work and is opening doors that have been closed for a long time.”

Bishop Hiiboro also expressed his thanks to the benefactors of Aid to the Church in Need. The charity has provided support for his diocese, including Child’s Bibles, training for catechists, priests’ formation, a pastoral centre and repairs to new churches.

During one of the charity’s project trips to Sudan he told staff: “You at Aid to the Church in Need never abandoned us – even in our darkest hour.

“We still have huge challenges, the security situation is still unresolved, there is enormous poverty. But because we have faith, we have confidence to go forward.”

Preparations for the Hope Without Fear events are well underway. The Westminster event will also include first-hand reports from Ukraine by Aid to the Church in Need’s UK director, Neville Kyrke-Smith.

And the charity’s UK head of press and information, John Pontifex, will discuss his recent trip to Pakistan.

Tagged with

• Archdiocese of Glasgow
• Archdiocese of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh
• Archdiocese of Westminster
• Mass
• Persecution
• Scotland
• South East
• Sudan

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