New Coadjutor Bishop of Nkayi Diocese in Congo Brazzaville Acknowledges Fears, Appeals for Prayers

Brazzaville, 02 December, 2025 / 4:17 PM

Mons. François Halyday Mbouangui, who was appointed Coadjutor Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Nkayi in the Republic of the Congo (Congo Brazzaville), has admitted feeling “humanly unadapted” to the Episcopal ministry entrusted to him, inviting the people of God to accompany him with prayers as he prepares to serve the local Church.

Speaking after the announcement of his appointment on December 1, Mons. Mbouangui shared a personal reflection on his journey to accepting the appointment.

“There is in me, humanly, the consciousness of feeling unadapted before the ministry to which I am called. And that is why I ask you, in advance, to pray for me,” he said.

The Bishop-elect added, “I have searched in the secret and silence of mechanisms like Jonas to escape this heavy task, but without success.”

“We are here because my plans did not work,” he said, adding. “But the fish of fear, which had swallowed me, placed me at the secondary door of the diocese, obeying His Holiness the Pope.”

Expressing gratitude for his appointment, the Bishop-elect thanked God and offered heartfelt appreciation to Pope Leo XIV for what he described as an “unmerited trust.”

Mons. Mbouangui extended warm thanks to the Priests of Nkayi for their unity, recalling with emotion the late Fr. David Damba, who first nurtured his love for the Priesthood. 

He paid tribute to the local Church in which he grew up and to the St. Joseph de l’Autété Parish, which “shaped me and helped me in my first steps as a Christian.”

Mons. Mbouangui also highlighted the seminaries and dioceses—both in Congo-Brazzaville and abroad—that contributed to his formation, particularly the Diocese of Verona in Italy and the parishes that hosted him there. He expressed special gratitude to families and mentors who supported him during his studies.

Calling for unity and commitment, Mons. Mbouangui warned against passivity in the face of challenges, saying, “The only thing that allows evil to triumph is the inaction of good men. Evil can only prosper if good leaves it the opportunity.”

He urged Priests and faithful not to fall into “dereliction” or waste time on “futile babbling,” but to embrace a “radical choice for our good and for the good of this local Church, and then that of the universal Church.”

“May God bless us and protect us,” he implored.

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.

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.