Pope Francis Appoints Bishops for Dioceses in Angola, Mozambique, Nuncio in Tunisia

The alumnus of the Universidade Católica Portuguesa in Lisbon previously served as the Director of the Instituto de Ciêcias Riligiosas de Angola (ICRA) in Lubango. He was also a member of the Archdiocesan Pastoral Secretariat. 

He will be the third Local Ordinary of the Diocese erected in March 1967.

The Holy Father has also appointed Fr Inácio Lucas to become the Bishop of Guruè in Mozambique. 

The Mozambican Diocese has been vacant since April 2019 when Bishop Francisco Lerma Martínez passed on. 

The Diocese with a population of 948,142 Catholics has been under the pastoral care of Bishop Germano Grachane as Apostolic Administrator. 

More in Africa

Why Nigerian Muslim Donated Modern 400-seater Assembly Hall to Nigeria’s Oyo Catholic Diocese

Read the article

Until his appointment, Fr Lucas, 52, was the Vicar General of the Diocese of Nacala. 

He was ordained a Priest for the Diocese of Nacala in June 1998. 

An alumnus of the Pontifical Athenaeum Sant'Anselmo in Rome, Fr. Lucas previously served as Rector of the Shrine of Nossa Senhora Mãe de África in Alua, Mozambique. 

The Bishop-elect is expected to serve as the third Bishop of the Diocese of Guruè.

Meanwhile, the Holy Father appointed Archbishop Kurian Mathew Vayalunkal as his representative in Tunisia.

The 54-year-old Indian-born Prelate also represents the Holy Father in Algeria. He has previously served as Apostolic Nuncio in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

He was ordained a Bishop in July 2016 and assigned the titular church of Ratiaria.

Magdalene Kahiu is a Kenyan journalist with passion in Church communication. She holds a Degree in Social Communications from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA). Currently, she works as a journalist for ACI Africa.