Pope Transfers Bishop in Zimbabwe, Appoints Him Administrator “ad nutum Sanctae Sedis”

Harare, 15 September, 2023 / 9:00 PM

Pope Francis has transferred the Catholic Bishop of Zimbabwe’s Chinhoyi Diocese to the Southern African country’s Episcopal See of Masvingo.

The Papal transfer of Bishop Raymond Tapiwa Mupandasekwa was made public Friday, September 15 and published by the Holy See Press Office. 

A statement from the Apostolic Nunciature in Harare says the Holy Father also appointed Bishop Tapiwa the “Apostolic Administrator ad nutum Sanctae Sedis of the Diocese of Chinhoyi pending the nomination of a new Bishop.”

The Diocese of Masvingo has been under the leadership of Archbishop Robert Christopher Ndhlovu of Harare Archdiocese as Apostolic Administrator since his appointment in July 2022; he became the caretaker of Masvingo Diocese following the retirement of Bishop Michael Dixon Bhasera.

Bishop Tapiwa who has been transferred to Masvingo Diocese has been at the helm of Chinhoyi Diocese since his Episcopal Ordination in April 2018.

The member of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists – CSsR) was born in April 1970 in Masvingo. 

He joined the Redemptorists in 1996 and made his perpetual vows in 2001. Bishop Tapiwa was ordained a Priest in August 2001.

Following his Priestly ordination, he served as Parish Vicar in Mabvuku and Tafara in Harare Archdiocese, Parish Priest of St. Gerard’s in Borrowdale, Pastor of St. Fidelis in Mabvuku and St. Alphonsus in Tafara.

He also served as lecturer of Moral Theology at Sts. John Fisher and Thomas More Chishawasha National Seminary,  lecturer of Moral Theology at Holy Trinity College Harare; lecturer of Canon Law at Holy Trinity College, and Vice Rector of Holy Trinity College.

Bishop Tapiwa was Regional Superior of the Redemptorist Fathers in Harare before his appointment in December 2017 as Local Ordinary of Chinhoyi Diocese.

The Zimbabwean Catholic Bishop is expected to oversee the pastoral care of an estimated 246,000 Catholics spread across 70,000 square kilometers, according to 2021 statistics.