In Papal Transfer in Mozambique, Pope Leo XIV Appoints Local Ordinary for Chimoio Catholic Diocese

Maputo, 17 December, 2025 / 11:35 PM

Pope Leo XIV has transferred Bishop Lucio Andrice Muandula of the Catholic Diocese of Xai Xai in Mozambique to the country’s Chimoio Catholic Diocese.

The transfer of Bishop Muandula to shepherd the people of God in the Mozambican Diocese that became vacant on 15 November 2022, following the transfer of Bishop João Carlos Hatoa Nunes to Maputo Archdiocese as the Coadjutor Archbishop, was made public by the Holy See Press Office on Wednesday, December 17.

Born on 9 October 1959 in Maputo Archdiocese, Bishop Muandula was ordained a Priest of the same Metropolitan See in May 1989 after completing his philosophical and theological studies at the Interdiocesan Seminary of St. Pius X in Maputo.

The holder of a doctorate in biblical theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome has been at the helm of Xai-Xai Diocese since he started his Episcopal Ministry in October 2004 and installed the following month.

Bishop Muandula was among the African Bishops who were instrumental during the Synodal process, which is now in the implementation phase.

On 15 March 2023, he was among the seven appointees to the newly established Preparatory Commission, commonly known as the Synod on Synodality, whose task was to facilitate the realization of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops.

The 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops is the Synod of Catholic Bishops that the Vatican announced in March 2020 and later extended to October 2024, on the theme, "For a synodal Church: communion, participation and mission".

Once installed, Bishop Muandula will become the third Local Ordinary of the Mozambican Episcopal See that measures 62,272 square kilometers with a population of 96000 Catholics representing 4.0 percent of the total population, according to the 2023 statistics.

Erected on 19 November 1990, the Chimoio Catholic Diocese is part of the Ecclesiastical province of Beira alongside Quelimane and Tete Catholic Dioceses.