Profile: Bishop Daniel Adwok
A life given to God
Although Daniel Adwok’s father was killed when he was just a boy, he was determined to become a priest. He has devoted his life to supporting and defending the faithful in Sudan, in the face of poverty and persecution.
Bishop Daniel is a physically imposing figure. Aid to the Church in Need's Scottish Secretary, Doctor John Watts, who met him when he visited Glasgow in 2007, described him as “a massive man – with a personality to match his 6′ 6″ frame.”
He added: “Without courage like his, the Church would die in many parts of Sudan.”
Born in south Sudan in 1952 during the final years of British occupation, Daniel Adwok grew up in Atar, south of Malakal, a town on the banks of the White Nile.
His life turned upside down aged 12 when his father was murdered alongside 17 others. His .
Coming at the start of Sudan’s first civil war (1964-72), his father’s death put the family in dire straits financially.
“For all of us, it was very traumatic,” Daniel said later. “We had to go back with my mother to Malakal because it was safer there.”
A sign of hope
For the young Daniel Adwok, the Church was a sign of hope.
His school had close contacts with the seminary in the southern provincial capital of Juba, and later Daniel recalled: “The seminarians talked to us about the urgent need for priests in our country.
“We saw the way the priests really connected with the people, preaching the word of God.”
Daniel’s vocation was sealed.
As a seminarian, money was so tight that, out of term-time, he would go to factories and work as a car mechanic to help pay for his training, as well as provide support for his family.
Ordained priest in 1977, he went to Lul parish as the region was beginning to recover from war. There he established a school and a catechetical centre.
After working hard in the diocese, he was asked to be rector of the seminary in Juba. But things did not go to plan.
“En route to the seminary, I went to see my mother in Malakal. I never left there. I was one of the only clergy allowed in.”
War once more
It was 1984 and war had returned to south Sudan. Cut off from the outside world, food supplies to the Malakal region were very sporadic – sometimes coming through only once a year.
Father Daniel tried to improve the supply of materials and was put in charge of distribution of provisions.
“I guaranteed that the food would come and that it would be fairly distributed,” he explained. “If it hadn’t been for that, half or two-thirds would have fled and who knows what would have happened to them because the situation was so volatile.”
He recalled working in the distribution centres: “There you discover all kinds of people but the real joy came when you discovered a person who was committed to providing help. You then really begin to appreciate their presence and what they are doing.”
After eight years in Malakal, he suddenly learned he was to become a bishop. His gut reaction was to refuse.
He felt that if he was called away he would be abandoning the thousands of refugees who were sleeping in his parish for weeks on end.
In the end, the nuncio flew out to meet the young priest, who said he was too busy to go and see him.
Almost as he boarded the plane, the nuncio tried one last time and eventually on pain of obedience, Father Daniel relented.
Auxiliary Bishop of Khartoum
Since becoming Auxiliary Bishop of Khartoum, Daniel Adwok has been a staunch advocate for a Church under pressure from militant Islam and extreme poverty – a situation exacerbated by war and other violence.
In July 1998 two clergy – parish priest Father Lino Sebit and diocesan chancellor Father Hillary Boma – were arrested by the Khartoum government.
They were accused of being implicated in a series of bomb plots against the Islamist regime. Diplomatic interventions got nowhere.
Vast crowds of dismayed faithful gathered for an outdoor Mass to be celebrated by Bishop Daniel Adwok.
He later recalled what happened next.
“We wanted to deal with the matter once and for all. So I stood up and said that the priests were being detained by security forces and that we were concerned for their safety.
“We thought it was possible that they were being tortured. I told the people that the priests’ innocence was beyond question.”
It was a risky move in the face of a government determined to assert its authority.
But the gamble paid off and the situation was resolved
It is but one of many such incidents where Bishop Daniel Adwok– working in cooperation with Cardinal Gabriel Zubeir Wako of Khartoum – has resisted acts of oppression.
Since the mid-1950s, the bishops’ courage has done much to help the Church in Khartoum – with numbers swelling from 50,000 to more than one million today.
“What matters to me is service”
If Bishop Daniel’s many responsibilities – and the risks they pose to his own safety – weigh heavily on his shoulders, he is at pains not to let it show.
With a characteristic smile, he outlines his philosophy slowly and gently.
“I suppose what matters to me is service,” he says.
“I am moved to serve the people, whether it is material service or defence of their rights.
“Even if I am not strong enough to stand up for them, I feel I should be a friend, someone who’d like to share in their difficulties.”