Pope Francis has appointed Monsignor Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, O.F.M. Cap. (Capuchin) as Archbishop of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Archbishop Ambongo was Coadjutor Archbishop of the same Archdiocese. He succeeds Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya, 79, whose resignation Pope Francis accepted for reasons of age.
Cardinal Monsengwo represents Africa within the C9, the College of nine Cardinals who help the Successor of Peter in the government and reform of the Church.
The Cardinal announced the news on Thursday, November 1, 2018 in the Episcopal Curia of the Lindonge Pastoral Center at Kinshasa, in the presence of Archbishop Ettore Balestrero, the Apostolic Nuncio.
Archbishop Ambongo Besungu, 58, was appointed Coadjutor at Kinshasa on February 6, 2018, transferring him from the See of Mbandaka-Bikoro.
At present, he is Vice-President of the Episcopal Conference of the DRC, an office he has held since June 2017.
Archbishop Ambongo has a diploma in Moral Theology from the Alphonsian Academy of Rome. He has taught Moral Theology at the Catholic University of Kinshasa and at the Saint Peter and Paul Major Seminary of Lisala.
