Bishop Gassis’s Bio

1938 - Born in Khartoum, Sudan

Primary and secondary education in the Catholic Schools run by the Comboni Missionaries, Khartoum, Sudan.

1955-64 - Seminary education in England and Italy

1964 - Ordained priest in Verona, Italy. Returned to home diocese (Khartoum) and served as assistant parish priest in Wad Medani, central Sudan.

1965 - Established new parishes in Eastern Sudan (Gedaref, Kassala, and new Halfa).

1971 - Chancellor of Archdiocese of Khartoum; served as Chaplain of Khartoum University as well as of two charitable societies: St. Vincent de Paul and St. Anne.

1973-83 - Secretary General of Sudanese Catholic Bishops' Conference. Oversaw the fund-raising and construction of the Bishops' General Secretariat Building, a facility which was formally dedicated in 1984.

1979 - Received degree in canon law and administration from the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC

1983 - Apostolic Administrator of El Obeid Diocese in central Sudan

1983-84 - Chairman for Sudan Aid [Caritas Sudan]

1984-89 - Chairman for Department of Mass Media and Communications for the Bishops' Conference

1988 - Consecrated bishop of El Obeid diocese in central Sudan.

As the only Arabic-speaking member of the Bishops' Conference, Bishop Gassis served as the Liaison between the Sudanese government and the Bishops' Conference.

The Sudanese government brought a criminal indictment against Bishop Gassis when he testified before the U.S. Congress about the atrocities committed by that government against its own people.

1990 - Departed the diocese for medical treatment in Europe and USA where he was successfully operated at Georgetown University Hospital for cancer of the bile duct. Here he was advised not to return home for security reasons.

1992-95 - Addressed United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva (4 consecutive years)

1996 - Addressed a youth rally in Milan stadium (attended by 40,000), attended by Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, Archbishop of Milan.

Feb. 2000 - Bishop Gassis was honored in Washington, D.C. with the 12^th annual William Wilberforce Award from Prison Fellowship for his efforts to end religious persecution in Sudan.

July 2000 - Bishop Gassis was again recognized in Washington, D.C. by the nation's leading organization of black trade unionists when the A. Philip Randolph Institute bestowed the prestigious A. Philip Randolph-Bayard Rustin Freedom Award on the Roman Catholic churchman.

Feb. 2001 - The Catholic University of America presented to this "advocate, statesman, pastor and alumnus" its highest honor, the President's Medal.

May 2001 - The College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Business Management at the University of San Francisco, a Jesuit and Catholic institution of higher learning, presented him with an honorary doctorate degree in humane letters.

Bishop Gassis has a base in Kenya and nurtures his flock which is I the areas conrolled by the Sudan Peoples' Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A). He travels across Europe, Canada and the United States to sensitize and create awareness of the human rights situation in his diocese and in Sudan: religious persecution, enslavement, aerial bombardment of civilians, forced starvation, rape and creation of terror. He continues to bring hope and help to his people.

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