Pope Francis ordains new cardinal from Tanzania

VATICAN: VATICAN, Vatican City: Pope Francis has today ordained Protase Rugambwa as a Cardinal.

The ceremony was held in Vatican City, Vatican.

The coadjutor archbishop of Tabora region aged 63, becomes Tanzania’s second cardinal elector after Cardinal Polycarp Pengo who is 79 years old.

On July 9, 2023, the pontiff appointed 21 new cardinals, including the Coadjutor Archbishop of Tabora, Archbishop Protase Rugambwa.

After being ordained, Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan took to the social media to congratulate the cleric and wished him all the best and success in his ministry.

“My heartfelt congratulations to his Eminence Protase Cardinal Rugambwa for being officially ordained by the Holy Father Francis as a Cardinal. The motto of your mission is ‘Go into the world’, reflecting the teachings of Jesus Christ in the Gospel of Mark 16:15, on the mission that cares for all people, all places and all times,” the Head of State shared via her X (formerly Twitter) account.

Cardinal Rugambwa is a Tanzanian prelate of the Catholic Church who has been archbishop coadjutor of the Archdiocese of Tabora since April 2023.

He was a secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples from November 2017 to April 2023.

He previously served as that congregation’s adjunct secretary and president of the Pontifical Mission Societies from 2012 to 2017.