Macram Gassis, R.I.P. — Christians in Sudan Lose a Hero

Bishop Macram Gassis envisioned a modern, Christian civilization in the most inhospitable of circumstances, in Sudan. For nearly four decades, until shortly before his death last Sunday at age 84, the Catholic bishop worked tirelessly to execute that vision, putting his own life at risk many times. He was an extraordinary hero.

His Diocese of El Obeid spanned a war-ravaged area, three times the size of Italy, that included Sudan’s Nuba Mountains and part of its south. A largely undeveloped wilderness, with only the most rudimentary economy, it was targeted in genocidal repression by an Islamist military dictatorship that held power in Khartoum for 30 years, until its overthrow in 2019.

About the Author

Nina Shea

Nina Shea is director of Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom and author of the new report “Ten Persecuted Catholic Bishops in China”

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Bishop Macram Gassis envisioned a modern, Christian civilization in the most inhospitable of circumstances, in Sudan. For nearly four decades, until shortly before his death last Sunday at age 84, the Catholic bishop worked tirelessly to execute that vision, putting his own life at risk many times. He was an extraordinary hero.

His Diocese of El Obeid spanned a war-ravaged area, three times the size of Italy, that included Sudan’s Nuba Mountains and part of its south. A largely undeveloped wilderness, with only the most rudimentary economy, it was targeted in genocidal repression by an Islamist military dictatorship that held power in Khartoum for 30 years, until its overthrow in 2019.