Pope Benedict appointed on Saturday Fr. Michael Didi Adugum Mangoria as coadjutor bishop of el-Obeid.
Fr. Didi, 51, was born in Engoth, Nuba Mountains, in the diocese of el-Obeid.He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Khartoum in 1992.
Fr Didi worked from 1992 to 1997 as parish priest of Jabarona, a parish of displaced Southerners in the desert outskirts of Khartoum.
He then was sent to Rome for further studies and in 2001 earned a doctorate in Canon Law.
Back in Sudan, Fr. Didi was assigned to teach in St. Paul’s Major Seminary, where he became the Rector two years ago.
Auxiliary bishop Daniel Adwok Kur of Khartoum broke the news of Fr. Didi’s appointment at St. Paul’s Major Seminary after the Vatican official newspaper Osservatore Romano published the news on Saturday.
Fr. Didi succeeds to bishops Macram Max Gassis and Antonio Menegazzo, respectively the bishop and apostolic administrator of el-Obeid.
The Diocese of El Obeid was established in1974.
It covers an area of almost 889 square kilometres, including Kordofan and Darfur, with a population of 8.9 million inhabitants.
The diocese has 140 thousand Catholics distributed in 10 parishes, and served by 38 priests (23 diocesan and 15 religious), 21 seminarians, and 28 religious sisters.