“Painful to write”: Kenyan Priest on Biography of Italian Bishop who Shaped Vocation in South Sudan

Kenyan priest Fr. Don Bosco Onyalla launched a biography of the late Bishop Caesar Mazzolari, who served the Catholic Diocese of Rumbek in South Sudan. During the book launch, Fr. Onyalla described the process of writing about the Italian bishop as painful because it required revisiting the final moments of a man he considered a spiritual father.

The biography, titled "Bishop Caesar Mazzolari: A Servant after the Heart of Jesus among South Sudanese," details the life of the bishop who died during Mass at Holy Family Cathedral in Rumbek on July 16, 2011. Fr. Onyalla, who is a member of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, noted that Bishop Mazzolari helped him maintain his path toward the priesthood after he was separated from the Spiritans while preparing for his perpetual profession.

Fr. Onyalla recalled that the bishop visited him on the evening of July 15, 2011, the day before he collapsed during the consecration at Mass. The priest, who made his own perpetual profession on the same day as the book launch, said the unexpected visit felt like a final farewell.