Kenyan, South African, Burkinabe Catholic Bishops among New Members of Vatican Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue

Nairobi, 04 July, 2025 / 11:00 PM

Three of the 22 new members that Pope Leo XIV has appointed to the Vatican Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue are from Africa, serving as Catholic Bishops in Kenya, South Africa, and Burkina Faso.

In the latest Vatican appointments made public Thursday, July 3 by the Holy See Press Office, the Holy Father appointed Bishop Willybard Kitogho Lagho of Kenya’s Catholic Diocese of Malindi, Bishop Sithembele Anton Sipuka of South Africa’s Mthatha Catholic  Diocese, and Bishop Ollo Modeste Kambou of Gaoua Catholic Diocese in Burkina Faso as members of the Dicastery that “promotes and supervises relations with members and groups of non-Christian religions.”

The scope of the Dicastery for Interreligious Diocese does not extend to Judaism that belongs to the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, which is tasked with engaging “in timely ecumenical initiatives and activities, both within the Catholic Church and in relations with other Churches and Ecclesial Communities.”

Bishop Willybard Lagho, 67: Malindi Diocese, Kenya

Born in 1958 in the Kenya’s Catholic Archdiocese of Mombasa, Bishop Lagho was ordained a Priest of the same Archdiocese in April 1987 after completing his Theological and Philosophical studies at St Thomas Aquinas Seminary and St Augustine’s Seminary Mabanga, respectively.

He holds a Diploma in Arabic Language from the Rome-based Pontifical Institute of Arabic & Islamic Studies (PISAI), Licentiate in Arabic and Islamic Studies from the Pontifical Institute of Arabic & Islamic Studies (Rome), and Master's in Religious Studies from Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA), Nairobi.

The Chairman of the Inter-Religious Council of Kenya (IRCK) was appointed the Local Ordinary of Malindi Diocese in December 2020 and Consecrated Bishop in March 2021, succeeding the late Bishop Emanuel Barbara.

Before his Episcopal appointment, Bishop Lagho served as the Vicar General of Mombasa Archdiocese. He was the long-serving Chairman of the Interreligious Council of Kenya’s Coast Interfaith Council of Clerics (CICC).

Bishop Sithembele Anton Sipuka, 65: Mthatha Diocese, South Africa

Born in April 1960 in the Province of Cape Town, Bishop Sipuka was ordained a Priest for the Catholic Diocese of Queenstown in December 1988.

He pursued further Theological studies in Rome where he obtained a Licentiate in Dogmatic Theology. Bishop Sipuka was appointed the Bishop of Mthatha in February 2008 and Consecrated Bishop in May that year, succeeding Bishop Oswald Hirmer.

He was elected President of the Southern African Council of Churches (SACC) in October 2024, becoming the first Catholic Prelate to hold this position.

The South African Bishop, who is the immediate former President of the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference (SACBC) previously served as Assistant of the President of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM).

Bishop Sipuka is the current Chairman of the Finance Committee and the Catholic Board of Education of SACBC.

Bishop Ollo Modeste Kambou, 61: Gaoua Diocese, Burkina Faso

Born in December 1963 in Bouti in Southwestern Burkina Faso, Bishop Modeste was ordained a Priest for the Catholic Diocese of Diébougou in December 1991.

He was appointed the Bishop of Gaoua Diocese in November 2011 and Consecrated Bishop in February 2012 as pioneer Bishop of the Diocese that was erected on 30 November 2011.

The Burkinabe Catholic Bishop currently serves as the Vice President of the two-nation Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Burkina Faso–Niger (CEBN).