Comboni Missionary Cleric Appointed Apostolic Vicar of Alexandria in Egypt

“Dear Father Claudio, in the name of the whole Church of Como, which has guided you to the faith, I praise the Lord for the gift of grace that He grants you, calling you to the service of his Church as Apostolic Vicar of Alexandria,” Bishop Cantoni writes in the message issued Thursday, August 6.

He adds in reference to Fr. Claudio’s appointment, “It is a sign of great trust and for you a task of high responsibility.”

“I am close to you in prayer, in unity with the whole diocesan presbytery and in particular with the members of the parish community of Lipomo, so that you may respond generously and joyfully to the new call which the Lord, through his Church, addresses to you today,” the 69-year-old Italian Prelate says.

He continues in his one-page statement obtained by ACI Africa, “In the fidelity of his love, the Lord gives you the gift of bringing to fulfilment, in its fullness, that missionary vocation which has been the fundamental dimension of your existence, to which you have responded with full and generous availability.”

The Bishop-elect obtained a Baccalaureate in Theology from Kenya-based Tangaza University College, a constituent College of the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA).

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In the first years of his Priestly ministry, he was engaged with missionary press apostolate. He was appointed to South Sudan in 1995 and transferred to Egypt two years later.

He was appointed Vice Superior of the Comboni Missionaries Delegation in 1999 and later Superior of the Delegation (2002-2007).

In his 31 years as a Priest, the Italian-born Comboni Missionary has also served as the Episcopal Vicar for the Africans of the Latin Vicariate of Egypt and engaged in the pastoral care of Sudanese refugees.

He will be administering the See of Alexandria that was erected as the Apostolic Vicariate of Egypt and Arabia in 1839 before it was renamed Apostolic Vicariate of Alexandria of Egypt in 1927.

The Vicariate has a population of 64,720 Catholics according to 2017 statistics.