Pope Leo XIV Appoints Coadjutor Bishop for Congo Brazzaville’s Nkayi Catholic Diocese

Brazzaville, 01 December, 2025 / 8:22 PM

Pope Leo XIV has appointed Mons. François Halyday Mbouangui, Director of the Diocesan Centre for Social Communication and Parish Vicar at Saint-Michel de Madingou-Poste in the Republic of the Congo (Congo Brazzaville), as the Coadjutor Bishop of the country’s Catholic Diocese of Nkayi.

The Bishop-elect has the mandate to assist 72-year-old Bishop Daniel Mizonzo in shepherding the people of God in the Congolese Episcopal See.

The Papal appointment of Mons. Mbouangui, as Coadjutor Bishop giving him “the right of succession” in line with the Code of Canon Law Can. 403 §3, was announced by the Vatican on Monday, December 1, and made public by the Holy See Press Office on the same day.

Born in October 1977, in Mindouli, Diocese of Kinkala, the Bishop-elect was ordained a Priest in July 2007, after studying philosophy at the Mgr Firmin Singha National Major Seminary in Brazzaville, and theology at the Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome.

As a Priest, he has served in various capacities, including Personal Secretary of the current Bishop and then Chancellor of the Diocese; Head of Youth Ministry and Cooperator at the Parish of Saint-Louis in Nkayi.

He also served as Parish Vicar at San Rocco, Pedemonte, and at Santa Maria Assunta, Manerba del Garda.

Since 2023, he has been serving as Director of the Diocesan Centre for Social Communication, Member of the Council for Economic Affairs, and Parish Vicar at Saint-Michel in Madingou-Poste.

With the right to succeed Bishop Mizonzo, the Coadjutor Bishop-elect will serve as the immediate collaborator of the Congolese Bishop in the Diocese that measures 33,210 square kilometers with a population of 390,140 Catholics representing 61.0 percent of the total population, according to the 2023 statistics.

Erected in December 1983, Nkayi Catholic Diocese is part of the Ecclesiastical province of Pointe-Noire.