Gweru, 11 September, 2020 / 8:11 PM
Pope Francis has appointed Bishop Rudolf Nyandoro, who has been the Local Ordinary of Gokwe Diocese, as the new Bishop of Gweru Diocese in the central part of Zimbabwe.
The Diocese of Gweru fell vacant in 2017 after the Local Ordinary, Bishop Xavier Johnsai Munyongani died. Since then, the Diocese has been under the leadership of Bishop Michael Dixon Bhasera of Masvingo as Apostolic Administrator.
The News of Bishop Nyandoro’s transfer was made public by the Apostolic Nunciature in Zimbabwe and published by the Holy See Press Office, Friday, September 11.
Bishop Nyandoro, 51, was ordained a Priest for the Diocese of Masvingo in December 1998.
As a Priest, he served as Administrator of the Cathedral in Masvingo Diocese, Rector of the Diocesan Minor Seminary, Rector of Bondolfi Teachers’ College, and the Chancellor of the Diocese of Masvingo, among other responsibilities.
The Zimbabwean Bishop is an alumnus of St. Charles Lwanga Major Seminary of Chimanimani, Mutare and the Chishawaha Seminary in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare.
He holds a doctoral degree in pastoral counselling from the University of South Africa.
He was ordained Bishop of Gokwe in April 2017, succeeding Bishop Angel Floro Martínez, a member of the Instituto Español de San Francisco Javier para Misiones Extranjeras (I.E.M.E).
Bishop Nyandoro is among the Prelates who attended the 2018 Synod on Young People in Rome.
In his presentation at the Synod, the Prelate said, “The youth is a dynamic group which needs engagement in every aspect of their lives. As pastors, we need to establish a continuous dialogue and journey with them in their faith and religion’’
“Let us listen to their stories. Let us hear their cries and answer them with empathy not with apathy. Let us not take them for granted. They have a lot to offer if they are given opportunities,” the Zimbabwean Prelate said.
The Papal transfer of Bishop Nyandoro from Gokwe to Gweru leaves the former as the only Diocese without a Prelate in the Southern Africa country comprising eight dioceses spread across two Ecclesiastical Provinces.
As the sixth Local Ordinary of Gweru, Bishop Nyandoro will be tasked with shepherding some 443,500 Catholics, according to 2017 statistics.
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