Zimbabwe: new archbishop for Bulawayo appointed

Jun 24th, 2009

Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Fr Alex Thomas Kaliyanil, Regional Superior of the Society of the Divine Word in Zimbabwe, as Archbishop of Bulawayo.

The archbishop-elect was born in Vallamchira, India, in 1960 and ordained a priest in 1988.

He replaces Archbishop Pius Ncube, a harsh critic of President Robert Mugabe, who resigned from his post in September 2007 following accusations, which he admitted, that he committed adultery.

The archdiocese of Bulawayo has an area of 66,956 square kilometres and a population of 1,858,000. There are 115,793 Catholics, 87 priests, 21 permanent deacons and 203 religious.

Meanwhile, Tanzanian Bishop Augustine Shao of Zanzibar is among three newly appointed members of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue (PCID) by Pope Benedict XVI.

Bishop Shao of Holy Ghost Fathers was born in 1951 in Tanzania and was ordained priest in 1983 and consecrated bishop in 1997.

Source: CISA

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