Advertisement

Immediate Former Bishop of DR Congo’s Isiro-Niangara Dies Hours after Pope Francis Appoints Apostolic Administrator

Bishop Dieudonné Madrapile Tanzi (right) of the Catholic Diocese of Isangi and Bishop Julien Andavo Mbia (left)

By Jude Atemanke

Kinshasa, 14 July, 2024 / 10:24 am (ACI Africa).

Bishop Julien Andavo Mbia, the immediate former Local Ordinary of Isiro-Niangara Catholic Diocese in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has passed on.

The 73-year-old Congolese Bishop died in the early hours of Sunday, July 14, under two days since Pope Francis appointed Bishop Dieudonné Madrapile Tanzi of the country’s Catholic Diocese of Isangi as Apostolic Administrator “Sede plena et ad nutum Sanctae Sedis” (at the behest of the Holy See).

In a statement obtained by ACI Africa, Bishop Madrapile Tanzi announces “with sadness” the passing on of Bishop Andavo Mbia, which he says “occurred this Sunday, July 14, 2024, around 4:15 a.m. in Durba where he was admitted for treatment.”

Bishop Madrapile Tanzi invites the people of God “to pray for the eternal repose of the soul of Bishop Julien Andavo”, adding that the funeral program “will be communicated to us in the following hours.”

Born in September 1950, the late Bishop Andavo Mbia was ordained a Priest of Isiro-Niangara Diocese in August 1979.

Advertisement

He was appointed Bishop of his native Diocese in February 2003; he was at the helm of the same Episcopal See since his Consecration in March 2003.

The leadership of the National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO) made public the appointment of Bishop Madrapile Tanzi as the Apostolic Administrator of Isiro-Niangara Diocese on Friday, July 12.

In a statement shared with ACI Africa, CENCO members said that the Holy Father made the appointment “having considered the state of health” of the Local Ordinary of Isiro-Niangara Diocese, Bishop Andavo Mbia.

“From this day on, all ordinary powers over the said Diocese revert exclusively to Bishop Madrapile, who will assume with pastoral solicitude the effective administration of the Diocese of Isiro-Niangara,” CENCO members said in the July 12 statement that the Secretary General, Mons. Donatien Nshole, signed.

Mons. Nshole added, “The General Secretariat of CENCO offers its warm and sincere congratulations to Bishop Madrapile on this heavy responsibility and wishes him a fruitful ministry in the Church-Family of God in Isiro-Niangara.”

More in Africa

Kenya

“We’re heartbroken”: Catholic Archbishop after 18 Boys Perish in Dormitory Inferno in Kenya’s Nyeri Archdiocese

Read the article

Born in August 1958 in Faradje, Bishop Madrapile was ordained a Priest in August 1985.

Jude Atemanke

Jude Atemanke is a Cameroonian journalist with a passion for Catholic Church communication. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of Buea in Cameroon. Currently, Jude serves as a journalist for ACI Africa.

Trending

You may also like

An external view of the Chapel of the Ascension on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem during the procession of the Franciscan friars after the first vespers of the Ascension solemnity on May 8, 2024. The procession circled the chapel three times. / Credit: Marinella Bandini

Catholics Ascend to Mount Olives, Site of Jesus’ Ascension, Only Day They Can Use Chapel Currently Under Muslim Control

“I’m excited to have come to pray in the actual place of the Ascension... I want to be closer to...

With the incense burned from the newly blessed fire, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, incenses the "Stone of Anointing," located at the entrance of the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher, where, according to tradition, the body of Jesus was anointed and prepared with aromatic oils for burial. March 30, 2024. / Credit: Marinella Bandini

"The mother of all holy vigils": Jerusalem Basilica is First Place to Announce Easter

In the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher, the church of the Lord’s resurrection, the Easter Vigil is held on Saturday...

Pope Francis' brief remarks during the Angelus July 21, 2024, focused on the day’s Gospel passage from Mark, which demonstrates how rest and compassion for others go together. / Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Francis: In the Silence of Adoration We Receive God’s Grace

At his weekly Angelus, the pope told Catholics to beware of “the dictatorship of doing.”