Archbishop Stephen Ameyu Martin, who was named one of three cardinals by Pope Francis on Sunday, would not have made it to become a prince of the Catholic Church if a group of protesters opposed to his elevation from Torit diocese to Juba archdiocese in 2019 had had their way.
The Catholic Church-affiliated news agency ACI Africa reports that when he was nominated to head the metropolitan archdiocese, a group that included priests and some lay people, all from the Bari ethnic community, claimed that the archbishop-elect "has two concubines and six biological children"; that some clerics of the Archdiocese of Juba, together with government officials, had conspired with officials of the Nunciature of South Sudan to promote the Bishop of the Diocese of Torit in South Sudan for their own personal interests.
