Pope Leo appoints two Nigerians to key Vatican roles

Pope Leo has appointed two Nigerians to key positions in the Vatican's Dicastery for Evangelization. According to Fides News Agency, the appointments were announced alongside those of three other African Catholic leaders. Archbishop Alfred Adewale Martins of Lagos was named a member of the Dicastery for Evangelization (Section for First Evangelization and New Particular Churches), one of the Vatican's principal departments responsible for missionary activities and the establishment of new local Churches. Also appointed as a consultor of the same Dicastery is Father Wenceslaus C. Madu, C.M.F., Vice-Chancellor of the Claretian University of Nigeria, Nekede. Other African appointees as members of the Dicastery are Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, OFM Cap, Archbishop of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Archbishop Andrew Nkea Fuanya of Bamenda, Cameroon. Archbishop François Sylla of Conakry, Guinea, was also appointed as a consultor. The appointments are expected to strengthen African representation in the Vatican's evangelization mission and governance of new particular Churches.