He was ordained a Priest on 14 July 1973 for Kaya Diocese. He started his Episcopal Ministry in November 1996 as Bishop of Burkina Faso’s Ouahigouya Catholic Diocese. He was transferred to Ouagadougou Archdiocese in 2009.
He served the Catholic Church in various capacities, including as a member of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
He was elevated to Cardinal during the Consistory of 22 February 2014.
He was elected President of SECAM during 19-29 July 2019 Plenary Assembly that was held in Kampala under the theme, “That they may know Christ and have life in abundance.”
Ministering in a country that faces serious security challenges especially from Islamists militants who often target places of worship, Cardinal Ouedraogo was vocal in condemning acts of violence against the suffering population. He proposed interreligious dialogue as a vital solution to terrorism in the Sahel region.
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He is a member of Vatican Dicasteries for the Evangelization; for Divine Worship, and the Discipline of the Sacraments.; and for interreligious dialogue.
Berhaneyesus Demerew Cardinal Souraphiel – February 2015 Consistory
Berhaneyesus Demerew Cardinal Souraphiel, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, was born in Cheleleqa, Ethiopia on 14 July 1948.
He was ordained a Priest in the Congregation of the Mission (CM) on 4 July 1976. He was imprisoned by the Communists from 1979 to 1980.
On 25 January 1998, he was ordained Bishop to serve as Auxiliary Bishop of Addis Ababa Archdiocese. He was appointed Archbishop of Addis Ababa in July 1999.
Cardinal Souraphiel has served as president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Ethiopia (CBCE). He has also served as president of the Council of the Ethiopian Church since 1998.
In 2014 he was elected chairman of the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA).
The member of the Dicastery for the Oriental Churches was created Cardinal during the Consistory of 14 February 2015.
Arlindo Cardinal Gomes Furtado – February 2015 Consistory
The first Cardinal from Cape Verde, Arlindo Cardinal Gomes Furtado was born in November 1949 in Santa Catarina in the Diocese of Santiago de Cabo Verde. He was ordained a Priest on 18 July 1976.
From 1978-1986 he served as Rector of the São José Minor Seminary, amid other stints, including teaching English at a high school in his native country.
He started his Episcopal Ministry as pioneer Bishop of the then newly established Diocese of Mindelo in February 2004. He was transferred to Santiago de Cabo Verde Diocese in July 2009.
He was elevated to Cardinal during the Consistory of 14 February 2015. Cardinal Gomes Furtado serves on the Dicasteries for Evangelization; and for Divine Worship, and the Discipline of the Sacraments.
Júlio Cardinal Duarte Langa – February 2015 Consistory
Júlio Cardinal Duarte Langa, Bishop emeritus of Xai-Xai in Mozambique, is known for editing the translation of the texts of Vatican Council II into local languages.
Born on 27 October 1927 in Mangunze, Mozambique, he was ordained a Priest in the Cathedral of Lourenço Marques (now Maputo) on 9 June 1957.
He served in various capacities and was appointed as consultor, member of the presbyteral council, and vicar general of the Diocese.
On 31 May 1976, Pope Paul VI appointed him as Bishop of the Diocese of João Belo, which was renamed Xai-Xai the same year on October 1. He received Episcopal Consecration on 24 October 1976.
He shepherded the people of God in the Diocese until 24 June 2004, for twenty-eight years which were marked by a long civil war, followed by the country’s independence in 1992.
During his ministry he placed great emphasis on the church in places that were in particular need, struck by epidemics or natural disasters.
He was created and proclaimed Cardinal by Pope Francis in the Consistory of 14 February 2015.
Dieudonné Cardinal Nzapalainga – November 2016 Consistory
The first Cardinal in the Central African Republic (CAR) and the youngest Cardinal at the time of being named in 2016, Dieudonné Cardinal Nzapalainga of the Catholic Archdiocese of Bangui was born on 14 March 1967 in the Diocese of Bangassou, CAR.
He was ordained a Priest in the Congregation of the Holy Spirit (CSSp/Spiritans/Holy Ghost Fathers) on 9 August 1998, and proceeded to mission in France, before returning to CAR, where he served as the President of the Conference of Major Superiors of Central Africa.
On 14 May 2012, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him as the Metropolitan Archbishop of Bangui, and in November 2015, he welcomed the late Pope Francis in the Diocese of Bangui, where the Holy Father opened the first door of the Holy Year of Mercy.
In 2013, the Spiritan Cardinal participated, alongside the president of the Islamic Council and the president of the Evangelical Alliance in Bangui, in the foundation of the interfaith Platform for Peace in Central Africa.
He was elevated to Cardinal during the 19 November 2016 Consistory. He is a member of Dicasteries for Evangelization; and for Inter-religious Dialogue.
Maurice Cardinal Piat – November 2016 Consistory
Maurice Cardinal Piat, the Bishop of Port-Louis in Mauritius was born in Moka, Diocese of Port-Louis on 19 July 1941 and ordained a Priest in the Congregation of the Holy Spirit (Spiritans) on 2 August 1970.
After serving in various apostolates in India and back in his native country of Mauritius, he was Consecrated Bishop of Port Louis on 13 March 1993.
He was president of the Episcopal Conference of the Indian Ocean (CEDOI) from 1996 to 2002; from 2013 to September 2016; and again in 2020.
He participated in the XIV Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the theme: The vocation and the mission of the family in the Church and in the contemporary world (October 2015).
The Local Ordinary of Port-Louis Diocese was elevated to Cardinal during the Consistory of 19 November 2016.
Sebastian Cardinal Koto Khoarai – November 2016 Consistory
Lesotho's first Cardinal, Sebastian Cardinal Koto Khoarai, Bishop Emeritus of Mohale’s Hoek, Lesotho, was born in Koaling, in the Diocese of Leribe, on 11 September 1929.
He was ordained a Priest on 21 December 1956; he was Consecrated Bishop on 10 November 1977 as the Local Ordinary of Mohale’s Hoek.
In May 2006, he submitted his resignation letter upon reaching the age limit; he remained the Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese until February 2014.
From 1982 to 1987, he served as president of the Lesotho Catholic Bishops’ Conference (LCBC).
He was elevated to Cardinal during the Consistory of 19 November 2016.
Sebastian Cardinal Koto Khoarai died on 17 April 2021.
Jean Cardinal Zerbo – June 2017 Consistory
Jean Cardinal Zerbo is a key figure in peace processes in Mali.
The Archbishop of Bamako was born in Segou on 27 December 1943. His Priestly Ordination took place on 10 July 1971, in Segou, and he was appointed as Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Bamako on 21 June 1988.
On 19 December 1994, he was transferred, as titular Bishop, to the Diocese of Mopti. On 27 June 1998, he was appointed Archbishop of Bamako.
He has played an active role in the peace negotiations in Mali, has been involved in the fight against exclusion and, above all, has promoted reconciliation and solidarity among Malians.
The Malian Prelate was elevated to Cardinal during the consistory of 28 June 2017.
He is a member of the Dicastries for the Evangelization; and for Laity, Family, and Life.
Désiré Cardinal Tsarahazana – June 2018 Consistory
Désiré Cardinal Tsarahazana, Archbishop of Toamasina (Madagascar), was born in Amboangibe on 13 June 1954. He was ordained a Priest on 28 September 1986.
He served in various capacities as a Priest before his 30 October 2000 appointment as Bishop of Fenoarivo Atsinanana. He was transferred to the then Diocese of Toamasina on 24 November 2008 and elevated to Archbishop of the same See on 26 February 2010.
He has served as President of the Episcopal Conference of Mozambique (C.E.M since 2015), and on 14 July 2018, Pope Francis appointed him President Delegate of the XV Ordinary General Assembly on Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment.
He was created Cardinal during the Consistory of 28 June 2018. He is a member of the Vatican Dicasteries for the Evangelization and for Culture and Education.
Fridolin Cardinal Ambongo Besungu – October 2019 Consistory
Born of a rubber tapper in Boto in DRC 65 years ago, Fridolin Cardinal Ambongo Besungu was ordained a Priest in the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (OFM Cap) in August 1988.
He served as a Priest for 16 years before he was appointed Bishop of DRC’s Bokungu-Ikela Catholic Diocese, where he served for 12 years; he was appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of Kinshasa in March 2018 and later in November, Local Ordinary of the Congolese Metropolitan See.
The Congolese Catholic Church leader who was elevated to Cardinal on 5 October 2019 has been described as “a zealous pastor and a direct, straightforward man.” Cardinal Ambongo testified at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague in 2016 on local warlord activities.
He was elected Vice-President of the Symposium of Episcopal Conference of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) and later succeeded the late Richard Kuuia Cardinal Baawobr who passed on in November 2022, months after he had been elected SECAM President.
Antoine Cardinal Kambanda – November 2020 Consistory
Born on 10 November 1958, Antoine Cardinal Kambanda of the Catholic Archdiocese of Kigali studied in Burundi, Uganda, and Kenya ahead of his Priestly ordination in September 1990 by St. John Paul II.
He was appointed Bishop of Kibungo Diocese in 2013, where he served for five years before his transfer to Kigali Archdiocese in 2018. His episcopal motto is “Ut vitam habeant’’ (That They May Have Life).
The Catholic Church leader who was elevated to Cardinal during the 28 November 2020 Consistory is currently the Vice President of the Episcopal Conference of Rwanda (CEPR) and doubles as the Chairman of the CEPR’s Commission for Justice and Peace (CEJP).
He is also the Chairman of the Rwanda Interfaith Council on Health (RICH). He has devoted his work to growing Small Christian Communities (SCCs).
Peter Ebere Cardinal Okpaleke – August 2022 Consistory
The Local Ordinary of Ekwulobia Catholic Diocese in Nigeria, Peter Ebere Cardinal Okpaleke was born on 1 March 1963 in the country’s Anambra State. He was Ordained a Priest on 22 August 1992 for Nigeria’s Diocese of Awka.
In 2012, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Bishop of Nigeria’s Catholic Diocese of Ahiara. His Episcopal appointment was rejected by the Clergy the Nigerian Diocese, who claimed that the Episcopal candidate comes from outside the dominant ethnic group of Ahiara Diocese, the Mbaise, and that Priests of the Diocese feel under-represented in the Catholic Church hierarchy in the West African nation.
He was impeded from setting foot in the territory covered by Ahiara Diocese; many Church activities were halted including the ordination of candidates to Diaconate. In fact, the May 2013 Episcopal Ordination of Bishop Okpaleke took place outside Ahiara Diocese, at Seat of Wisdom Seminary, Ulakwo, in Nigeria’s Owerri Catholic Archdiocese.
The rejection persisted even after the Nigerian Bishop’s Consecration. In a 14 February 2018 letter to Pope Francis, the Nigerian Catholic Bishop resigned, referring to the sustained opposition to his appointment.
On 19 February 2018, Pope Francis accepted Bishop Okpaleke’s resignation and “relieved him of the pastoral care of the Diocese of Ahiara.”
A year later, on 5 March 2020, Pope Francis announced the establishment of Ekwulobia Catholic Diocese and appointed Bishop Okpaleke the pioneer Local Ordinary. He was installed Bishop of the Diocese that was curved out from his native Diocese of Awka on 29 April 2020.
Cardinal Okpaleke was among the 21 new Cardinals that Pope Francis named on 29 May 2022, and created them Cardinals during the 27 August 2022 Consistory. He is a member of the Vatican Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life.
Richard Kuuia Cardinal Baawobr (RIP) – August 2022 Consistory
Richard Kuuia Cardinal Baawobr died on 27 November 2022, exactly three months after he had been elevated to Cardinal.
During the 27 August 2022 Consistory, Pope Francis appealed for prayers for the Ghanaian Cardinal who missed the event due to what the Holy Father termed "a heart problem".
Cardinal Baawobr was born on 21 June 1959, in Tom-Zendagangn, Diocese of Wa, and was ordained a Priest of the Missionaries of Africa (White Fathers) on 18 July 1987.
Before he was appointed Bishop in February 2016, the Ghanaian-born Catholic Church leader had served as first Assistant General of the Superior General of the Missionaries of Africa for a six-year term; in May 2010, he was elected the first African Superior General of the Catholic Congregation that was founded in 1868.
He was chosen by the Union of Superiors General to participate in the Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the Family, 4-25 October 2015.
On 17 February 2016, Pope Francis appointed him Bishop of the Diocese of Wa, Ghana, and on 4 July 2020, he was appointed member and Consultor of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.
The late Cardinal had been elected President of the Symposium of Episcopal Conference of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) on July 30 at the end of the 19th Plenary Assembly of the continental symposium that was held in Accra, the capital city of Ghana.
Stephen Ameyu Martin Cardinal Mulla – September 2023 Consistory
Born in January 1964, Stephen Ameyu Martin Cardinal Mulla of the Catholic Archdiocese of Juba Archdiocese in South Sudan was incardinated in the country’s Torit Catholic Diocese at his Diaconate Ordination in October 1990 and ordained a Priest in April 1991.
The alumnus of the Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome where he obtained his Master’s and doctoral degrees in Dogmatic Theology started his Episcopal Ministry in March 2019 as Bishop of his native Diocese of Torit. He had been serving as formator at the Juba-based St. Paul’s Major Seminary.
His transfer from Torit Diocese to Juba Archdiocese on 12 December 2019 was met with resistance from a section of the Clergy and Laity of the South Sudan’s only Metropolitan See, who wrote multiple strongly-worded protest letters to the Vatican-based Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, Propaganda Fide.
He received support from members of the Sudan/South Sudan Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SSS-CBC), which is constituted by Prelates from the seven Catholic Dioceses in South Sudan and the two in Sudan.
On 6 March 2020, Pope Francis reconfirmed his earlier appointment of Bishop Ameyu for Juba Archdiocese, putting an end to controversies around politics of succession in South Sudan’s only Metropolitan See.
He was installed on 22 March 2020. He was among the 21 Cardinals that the late Pope Francis named after reciting the Angelus prayer on 9 July 2023 and created Cardinal during the 30 September 2023 Consistory.
Cardinal Ameyu is currently serving as SSS-CBC President.
Stephen Cardinal Brislin – September 2023 Consistory
Stephen Cardinal Brislin is the Local Ordinary of Johannesburg Archdiocese in South Africa following his transfer from the Catholic Archdiocese of Cape Town in October 2024.
Born in Welkom in September 1956, Cardinal Brislin was ordained a Priest in November 1983. In October 2006, he was appointed Bishop of Kroonstad Catholic Diocese in South Africa and Consecrated Bishop in January 2007.
Three years later, he was appointed Local Ordinary of Cape Town Archdiocese. He was among the 21 Cardinals that the late Pope Francis named after reciting the Angelus prayer on 9 July 2023 and created Cardinal during the 30 September 2023 Consistory.
Cardinal Brislin’s Coat-of-Arms expresses his motto Veritas in Caritate – truth in love, taken from Ephesians 4:15. The center is the empty cross of the resurrected Christ, from which all life comes. The rising sun is the promise of eternal life.
The brown represents the dryness of certain parts of the Free State, where the Archbishop has his roots and also represents life without Christ since fruitfulness and life come through the cross. This life is depicted by the people, the Acacia tree, the maize, the wheat, and the grapes – also representing the Western Cape and reminding us of the Body and Blood of Christ.
The Basotho hat reflects the majority of the people to whom the Cardinal ministered and also the “crown” of Kroonstad. The thistle represents the maternal roots of the South African Cardinal, namely Scotland. The shamrock represents the paternal roots of the Cardinal, namely, Ireland.
Protase Cardinal Rugambwa – September 2023 Consistory
Born in May 1960 in the Catholic Diocese of Bukoba in Tanzania, Protase Cardinal Rugambwa served as Secretary of the Dicastery for Evangelization before he was appointed Coadjutor Archbishop for Tanzania’s Tabora Archdiocese on 13 April 2023.
Cardinal Rugambwa was ordained a Priest for the Catholic Diocese of Rulenge-Ngara in September 1990. The Alumnus of the Rome-based Pontifical Lateran University where he obtained a doctorate in pastoral theology was appointed the Local Ordinary of Tanzania’s Catholic Diocese of Kigoma in 2008.
He was appointed Adjunct Secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (Propaganda Fide) and president of the Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS) with the personal title of Archbishop in June 2012.
In 2017, Cardinal Rugambwa was appointed Secretary of Propaganda Fide, the Vatican department tasked with “the transmission and dissemination of the faith throughout the whole world” that has “the specific responsibility of coordinating and guiding all the Church's diverse missionary efforts and initiatives”, which he served until March 2023.
During his service at the Vatican, the Tanzanian-born Cardinal pressed for support for youth facing migration challenges.
In August 2019, the Tanzanian Cardinal hailed the establishment of ACI Africa as being in line with the desires and goals of the Vatican-based congregation responsible for missionary work across the globe.
In a July 2022 report, Cardinal Rugambwa urged members of the Association of the Regional Episcopal Conferences of Central Africa (ACERAC) at their Plenary Assembly in Mongomo, Equatorial Guinea, to defend the youth as they are vulnerable to migration challenges.
He was among the 21 Cardinals that the late Pope Francis named in July 2023 and created Cardinal during the 30 September 2023 Consistory.
Ignace Cardinal Bessi Dogbo – December 2024 Consistory
Ignace Cardinal Bessi Dogbo of the Catholic Archdiocese of Abidjan in Ivory Coast is among the last Cardinals the late Pope Francis named in October 2024 and created during the December 2024 Consistory.
Aged 63, Carinal Dogbo was ordained a Priest of Ivory Coast’s Yopougon Catholic Diocese in August 1987. The holder of licentiate in Sacred Scripture from the Rome-based Pontifical Biblical Institute was Consecrated Bishop in July 2004.
He served as the Apostolic Administrator of Korhogo from 2017 to January 2021, when he was appointed Local Ordinary of the same Ivorian Episcopal See.
Cardinal Dogbo was elected President of the Episcopal Conference of Ivory Coast (CECCI) in May 2017 during the 107th Plenary Assembly of the West African nation that took place in Kodjoboué (Bonoua) in the Ivorian Catholic Diocese of Grand-Bassam.
As CECCI President, Cardinal Dogbo advocated for peace, dialogue, and reconciliation in Ivory Coast before, during, and after the 31 October 2020 presidential election.
He was appointed Archbishop of Abidjan on 20 May 2024 and installed on 3 August 2024.
Jean-Paul Cardinal Vesco – December 2024 Consistory
Born in Lyon in France on 10 March 1962, Jean-Paul Cardinal Vesco studied and practiced law before entering the Novitiate of the Order of Friars Preachers (Dominicans) in 1995.
He was ordained a Priest in 2001; he was in Jerusalem for studies before traveling to Algeria in 2002.
In 2010, he was elected Provincial Superior of the Dominicans in France. In December 2012, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Bishop of Oran Catholic Diocese in Algeria, where he was Consecrated Bishop in January 2013.
He was appointed Archbishop Alger in December 2021. He was among the last Cardinals the late Pope Francis named in October 2024 and created during the December 2024 Consistory.
This story was first published by ACI Africa on 13 March 2023 and was updated on 25 April 2025
