(OSV News) — A Catholic bishop in South Sudan has appealed for information regarding a priest and his driver who disappeared three years ago without trace in the southwestern part of the country.
His appeal is a reminder of a tragic reality for pastors in the area, issued just days after the papal visit to the continent and after the Church observed Good Shepherd Sunday April 26.
On April 27, three years after Father Luke Yugue Mbokusa, and his driver Michael Gbeko, disappeared, Bishop Eduardo Hiiboro Kussala of Tombura-Yambio asked that Masses be offered for their intention.
Unresolved and painful disappearance
He said that silence, many unanswered questions and deep wounds marked the unresolved and painful disappearance of the two. Even though the priest was declared dead by the diocese in 2024, the wound remains open as neither the family nor the diocese knows anything about the circumstances of his declared death and are unable to bury him.
“We have not received any new information about the disappearances,” Bishop Kussala told OSV News in an interview. “I believe the priest was killed because three years is a long time. Someone would have revealed it if he was alive.”
In an appeal for the third anniversary, the bishop said Father Yugue was a servant of the Gospel, a shepherd dedicated to Christ’s mission of peace, reconciliation and hope. He said Gbeko was the priest’s companion in service, who walked faithfully beside him.
‘They belonged to all of us’
“They did not belong only to their families or to the Church. They belonged to all of us. Their disappearance is not a private loss. It is a national wound. It is a moral test for our society,” Bishop Kussala said in an April 27 statement.
Father John Gbemboyo Joseph Mbikoyezu, the pastoral and social communication coordinator of the bishops’ conference of Sudan and South Sudan, said that as a priest, he was in disbelief that his brother in the priesthood could disappear within the community he served without any trace.
“The disappearance of Father Luke Yugue three years ago has a lot to tell us about the people of South Sudan and beyond. It shows how fragile the lives of people are in the hands of the powerful,” he told OSV News, urging prayers for South Sudan’s Catholics.
Dangerous area controlled by rebels
According to Bishop Kussala, the two disappeared in a dangerous area controlled by a rebel group, where violence continues.
For this reason, the Church has been unable to mount a search to retrieve the remains of two.
“The place where we believe he was killed has never been peaceful. The rebels are still active there and we cannot fully access the place,” said Bishop Kussala.
The bishop is concerned that the government and the relevant institutions have not taken any action in relation to the disappearance, and nobody has been arrested in connection with it, adding that the Church continues to plead for help to know what went wrong.
Need to know ‘what happened’
“We want to keep pushing so that we can get a glimpse of what happened,” said Bishop Kussala. “He was a very useful and kind person. He gave himself to the service of the people. He did not deserve to die this way.”
The priest and the driver were among the many who have disappeared across South Sudan, according to the bishop.
“Many lives have been taken lightly. Many families continue to cry in silence. Their tears are not invisible to God,” he said in his April 27 statement.
As of June 2025, the International Committee of the Red Cross and South Sudan Red Cross were handling more than 6,000 open cases of missing persons.
Father Mbikoyezu said the Church has been advocating and praying for the priest and his driver, and trying to bring their disappearance to the attention of the leadership, so that their lives are not forgotten.
Time to ‘stabilize the country’
“It is time to stabilize the country for the good of all and it’s time to think of the needed peace required for all,” said Father Mbikoyezu.
Prior to Easter, a Catholic bishop in South Sudan warned that his people are living a real-life Way of the Cross, marked by suffering, violence and deep wounds.
Bishop Christian Carlassare of Bentiu, the Church’s newest diocese in northern South Sudan, said many families have mourned their dead, communities have been shattered, and many hearts carry deep wounds due to war and violence in the region.
‘True peace can be born’
“And when wounds run so deep, the word ‘forgiveness’ can seem almost disrespectful, and the word ‘peace’ may appear fragile, distant — almost impossible,” the bishop said in a message sent to OSV News on March 26. “And yet, it is precisely here, within these very wounds, that true peace can be born.”
Concerns are rising that current political instability is gradually pushing South Sudan, the world’s youngest nation, back toward war. As of March, 2.6 million people were internally displaced due to renewed conflict and intercommunal violence, with another 2.3 million living as refugees in neighboring countries, according to aid agencies.
Fredrick Nzwili writes for OSV News from Nairobi, Kenya.
