Masvingo, 19 July, 2022 / 8:13 pm (ACI Africa).
Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Bishop Michael Dixon Bhasera of the Catholic Diocese of Masvingo in Zimbabwe, the 72-year-old Catholic Church leader who started his Episcopal Ministry in the Zimbabwean Diocese of Gokwe in October 1991.
In a Tuesday, July 19 bulletin announcing the latest administrative changes, the Holy Father appointed the Local Ordinary of Harare Archdiocese, Archbishop Robert Christopher Ndhlovu, the Apostolic Administrator of the Zimbabwean Diocese.
The Holy See Press Office bulletin does not give any reason for the resignation of the Bishop Bhasera who has served as the Local Ordinary of Masvingo since 1999.
Catholic Bishops are expected to submit their respective letters of retirement at the age of 75. Compelling reasons such as “ill-health or other grave problems” justify the offering of such a letter of resignation.
Bishop Bhasera was ordained a Priest in August 1978. He was appointed Local Ordinary of Gokwe Diocese in June 1991 and ordained Bishop for the Episcopal See four months later.