…Appoints new priests into Vatican Dicastery
Pope Leo XIV has urged Catholic priests to promote unity and peace as part of their priestly ministry calling of drawing men to God.
“I would make this heartfelt appeal to all of you today: Be builders of unity and peace,” Pope Leo stated in his message to priests during the Day of Sanctification of Priests, observed each year on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
The Holy See Press Office announced that Pope Leo has appointed new members to the Vatican Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (ICLSAL), including five members ministering in Africa. All five are members of ICLSAL: two are Archbishops, two are Bishops, and one is a Priest at the helm of a Society of Missionaries.
According to Pope Leo, priests must be pastors capable of wise discernment, with the ability to understand and interpret complex situations, and provide “pastoral solutions that generate and regenerate faith by building good relationships, bonds of solidarity, and communities in which the style of communion shines forth.”
The Pope also emphasised that being builders of peace and unity means serving and not domineering. He also highlighted the need for priestly fraternity, which can become a credible sign of God’s presence.
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According to the Pope, entering into the Sacred Heart allows priests to experience and renew that gift which the Lord entrusted to priests and charged them to pass on in His Name, by bringing to God’s people “the Word and the sacraments… in order to bring about a world reconciled in love.”
Pope Leo closed his message with another appeal to priests to renew the ‘yes’ they gave at their ordination, to allow themselves to be shaped by the Holy Spirit, and to not be overwhelmed by personal frailty. “The Lord does not look for perfect priests, but for humble hearts that are open to conversion and prepared to love others as He loved us.”
After recalling his predecessor’s invitation to priests to renew their devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, he encouraged the priests to root their ministry “in prayer and forgiveness, and in closeness to the poor, to families, and to young people who are searching for the truth,” reminding them that “a holy priest makes holiness flourish around him.”
According to the Holy See Press Office, the latest appointments include Cristóbal Cardinal López Romero of the Catholic Archdiocese of Rabat in Morocco, Archbishop Jude Thaddaeus Ruwa’ichi of Tanzania’s Catholic Archdiocese of Dar-es-Salaam, and Bishop Thulani Victor Mbuyisa of South Africa’s Catholic Diocese of Kokstad.
Other Papal appointees are Bishop Tesfaye Tadesse Gebresilasie, Auxiliary Bishop of Ethiopia’s Catholic Archdiocese of Addis Ababa, and Fr. Stanley Lubungo, the Zambian-born Superior General of the Society of Missionaries of Africa (White Fathers/MAfr.).
The current appointments further highlight the growing influence of African Church leaders in Vatican structures.
