Pope Francis has appointed Bishop José Colin Mendoza Bagaforo, auxiliary of Cotabato in the Philippines, as bishop of Kidapawan.
The Diocese of Kidapawan has a population of close to 1 million, with about half of them being Catholic. They are served by some 35 priests and 50 religious.
José Colin Mendoza Bagaforo was born in Cotabato in 1954 and ordained a priest in 1980. He was appointed the auxiliary bishop of his home diocese in 2006.
Pope Francis also accepted the resignation presented by Archbishop Tomé Makhweliha, S.C.I., from the pastoral care of the archdiocese of Nampula in Mozambique, and appointed Bishop Ernesto Maguengue, auxiliary of the same archdiocese, as apostolic administrator “sede vacante et ad nutum Sanctae Sedis” of the same metropolitan see.
