KABWE, Zambia, NOV. 3, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI created in Zambia the new Diocese of Kabwe, taking territory from Lusaka and Mpika, and naming the director of an archdiocesan youth ministry office as the diocese’s first bishop.
The Vatican announced on Saturday the establishment of the Diocese of Kabwe.
The 24,000-square mile territory is populated by more than 1 million people, but just under 140,000 Catholics. Some 40 priests and 100 religious are part of the new diocese, which is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Lusaka.
Salesian Father Clement Mulenga, 46, who was serving as the director of Lusaka’s youth ministry office, was named the first bishop.
Clement Mulenga was born in Dimashi in 1965 and ordained a priest in 1998.
He studied at the Pontifical Salesian University and has worked in Salesian communities in Zambia and Tanzania.
The Diocese of Kabwe is the nation’s 11th diocese. Data on the religious filiation of most Zambians is uncertain, with Christians thought to make up between 50% and 75% of the population. Muslims and Hindus are large minorities.
Benedict XVI also appointed Archbishop Nicola Girasoli, apostolic nuncio to Zambia and Malawi, as apostolic nuncio to Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Dominica, Jamaica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and Grenadines, Suriname, Guyana, and apostolic delegate in the Antilles.
For Poland, the Pope has accepted the resignation of Auxiliary Bishop Teofil Wilski of the Diocese of Kalisz, who resigned for reasons of age.
Also, the Pope appointed Bishop Wiktor Pawel Skworc of Tarnow, Poland, as metropolitan archbishop of Katowice.
That archdiocese has nearly 1.5 million Catholics served by over 1,000 priests and 1,000 religious.
Bishop Skworc, 63, succeeds Archbishop Damian Zimon, who resigned for reasons of age.
And the Holy Father appointed Father Sebastian Tudu, 44, of the clergy of Dinajpur, Bangladesh, as bishop of that diocese.
There are some 46,000 Catholics in the diocese, served by about 55 priests and 150 religious.
