Pope Leo XIV Transfers Bishop of South Africa’s Mthatha Diocese in Latest Administrative Changes

After his Priestly Ordination, he served as Parish Vicar of Qoqodala and Lady Frere before being appointed Parish Priest of Cofimvaba between 1989 and 1991.

He pursued further Theological studies in Rome, where he obtained a Licentiate in Dogmatic Theology.

Bishop Sipuka was appointed the Bishop of Mthatha in February 2008 and Consecrated Bishop in May that year, succeeding Bishop Oswald Hirmer.

Upon returning to South Africa, he served as a lecturer in Philosophy of Religion and Liturgy at St. Peter’s Philosophical Major Seminary in Pretoria, while also teaching Fundamental and Eucharistic Theology at St. John Vianney Theological Major Seminary.

He later served as Vice-Rector and subsequently Acting Rector of St. Peter’s Seminary from 1996 to 1999, before being appointed Rector of St. John Vianney Major Seminary, a position he held from 2000 to 2008.

On 8 February 2008, he was appointed Bishop of the Diocese of Mthatha, receiving Episcopal Ordination on May 3 of the same year.

He was elected President of the Southern African Council of Churches (SACC) in October 2024, becoming the first Catholic Prelate to hold this position.

The South African Archbishop-elect, who is the immediate former President of the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference (SACBC), previously served as Assistant to the President of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM).

Bishop Sipuka is the current Chairman of the Finance Committee and the Catholic Board of Education of SACBC.

On 4 July 2025, he was among the three of the 22 new members that Pope Leo XIV  appointed to the Vatican Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, including others serving as Catholic Bishops in Kenya and Burkina Faso.

His moral leadership has also been recognised at a national level. In July 2025, President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed Bishop Sipuka as a member of South Africa’s National Dialogue Eminent Persons Group, a body tasked with guiding inclusive national reflection and dialogue on the country’s social, political, and economic challenges.

The Archbishop-elect has been vocal on various issues in the South African nation.

In address at the World Council of Churches (WCC) Central Committee meeting in Johannesburg, 18–24 June 2025, Bishop Sipuka urged church leaders and delegates to center their deliberations on the “tangible realities of human suffering” rather than abstract theological debates. 

He stressed that authentic Christian engagement must be rooted in compassion, justice, and solidarity with victims of conflict and violence, not merely in political maneuvering or compromise.

Later in August 2025, at the Plenary Assembly of SACBC,  Bishop Sipuka delivered a homily lamenting what he described as a shift toward “practical atheism” in South Africa and the region. 

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Using the biblical image of disciples in a storm, he likened the Church’s current challenges, including falling Mass attendance and societal moral decline, to a boat caught in tempestuous seas, urging Catholics to hold fast to faith amid secular pressures.

At the 2025 G20 Interfaith Forum held in Cape Town, Bishop Sipuka challenged faith leaders to avoid alignment with political elites and instead deepen their pastoral engagement with the marginalized. 

He emphasized that authentic Christian leadership arises from “pastoral proximity”, spending more time with the poor and vulnerable than in government offices, and warned against complicity in systems that perpetuate injustice.

Bishop Sipuka has also been active in human rights and ecumenical dialogue. 

Earlier in 2025, he called for greater respect for human rights in South Africa on Human Rights Day, urging society to honor the dignity and equal worth of all citizens in the wake of ongoing abuses and social challenges.

Once installed, the 65-year-old Archbishop-elect is expected to serve as the Local Ordinary of the 30,892 square kilometer Archdiocese that has been under the Apostolic Administratorship of Cardinal Brislin.

The Metropolitan See has an estimated population of 276,415 Catholics representing 5.6 percent of the total population, according to 2023 statistics.