Catholic Nuns attacked in South Sudan

Religious Sisters working at the Solidarity Teachers’ Training College in Yambio,  a city in South Sudan, were on December 28 2015 attacked by fine gunmen who stole computers, cell phones and cash from the nuns. According to De La Salle Brother Bill Firman, director of Solidarity with South Sudan, the gunmen after climbing the fence surrounding the college, confronted the nuns, who were locking up the building for the night, and demanded for guns, cash, phones and computers. The sisters had no guns, but handed over the other items. The Sudan Catholic Radio Network reported that one of the sisters was also sexually assaulted during the attack. The gunmen are believed to be associated with a rebel group in the country’s civil war which began in 2013. 

Solidarity with South Sudan is a Catholic missionary group implementing teacher and health training, agriculture, trauma healing and pastoral programmes in many parts of South Sudan, under the auspices of the Sudan Catholic Bishops’ Conference. According to the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur website, the Solidarity community in Yambio includes religious from different congregations around the world, including Montana and California as well as Ecuador, Ireland and New Zealand.