The Emeritus Bishop of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan and Sudan or ECSSS Cueibet Diocese Rueben Machir passed away on Monday morning at Rumbek Civil Hospital.
A close family member Gabriel Kuch Abyei told Radio Good News that Bishop Machir born in 1933, passed away after a long illness.
He described the 81-year-old late Bishop as the father of the ECSSS faith in Rumbek East, Rumbek North, Cueibet and Wulu Counties since 1963.
Mr Kuch said the late Bishop Machir remained with Christians in the bush and became the first Bishop serving in the liberated areas when Sudan civil war was at its peak.
Arrangements for the burial of the late bishop are underway at St Barnabas Cathedral in the Episcopal Diocese of Rumbek.