Gaborone, 05 July, 2021 / 9:00 pm (ACI Africa).
Pope Francis has appointed Local Ordinaries for the Dioceses of Hwange in Zimbabwe and Francistown in Botswana.
In the Monday, July 5 appointments that were made public by the Holy See Press Office, the Bishop of Botswana’s Gaborone Diocese was elevated to “Archbishop ad personam”, a rank, which the Holy Father confers on some Bishops who are not Local Ordinaries of Archdioceses.
Thus, the title of Archbishop is conferred on Bishop Franklyn Atese Nubuasah of Gaborone Diocese individually rather than on the Diocese he continues to govern.
The Holy Father has appointed Msgr. Anthony Pascal Rebello the new Bishop for Francistown in Botswana, an Episcopal See that has been vacant since June 2019, when Bishop Nubuasah was transferred to the Diocese of Gaborone.
Until his appointment, Bishop-elect Rebello, 71, has been serving as the Parish Priest of Holy Cross Mogoditshane Parish of Gaborone Diocese.