Father Philip Pitya

1942 - 2022

Father Philip Pitya
Father Philip Pitya, 80, of Sanford, NC and Juba, South Sudan, passed peacefully, Saturday, September 10th, 2022. He was born in the village of Kworigik, South Sudan, to the late Legge Loku and Mary Kaku. In addition to his parents, he was predeceased by his four brothers and a sister; and is survived by many loving cousins, nieces and nephews.
In 1966, he attended the Pontifical Urban University in Rome whose mission is to train priest, religious brothers, sisters, and lay people for service as missionaries. After ordination by Pope Paul VI in 1970, he returned to his home in Juba to the St. Teresa's Cathedral to serve as the parish priest. Nine years later, he traveled to the United States to study at Fairfield University, and then he continued his education at Boston University in religious studies where he received a Doctorate degree. Father Philip served God as a Catholic priest in the Sudan and throughout the United States for over 52 years.
Fr. Philip served the people at St. Agnes in Greenwich and St, Gregory the Great in Danbury both in Connecticut; he was loved by many there as he shared his love for the Lord. Fr. Philip was a resident priest at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Jamaica Plain in the 1980s while he studied at Boston University.
During the last fifteen years Fr. Philip spent his summers in the States, arranging for Sudanese priests to visit parishes across the country on Mission Sundays to say Masses in the parishes and share the life and culture of the Sudanese. He traveled back and forth between the United States and South Sudan during those years and was officially recognized as the most beloved priest of all times in his home country.
Father Philip was always ready with a smile, a prayer and a real connection to every person he met and made each of our lives more rich and engaged.
The Funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. Stephen's Church in Sanford on Saturday, September 24th at 10:00 am. The family will receive guests at the church prior to the service from 9:00 – 10:00 and the funeral will be livestreamed and can be seen by going to www.Facebook.com/MillerBolesFuneralhome . Online condolences may be made to www.MillerBoles.com . Services are entrusted to the Miller Boles Funeral Home of Sanford.
For those may be interested in contributing to a memorial fund to honor Father Philip, a charitable fund has been initiated for the education of South Sudanese Youth called "Fr. Philip's Education Fund".