Pope Francis establishes new diocese in Angola, appoints its first bishop

ACI Africa, Aug 2, 2024 / 11:30 am

Pope Francis has established a new diocese in the west African country of Angloa — the Diocese of Ganda — and appointed Bishop Estêvão Binga, who has been serving as the auxiliary bishop of the country’s Diocese of Benguela, as its pioneer bishop.

The new episcopal see, the 20th in the southern African nation, was announced by the Holy See Press office on Thursday, Aug. 1.

Carved out from the Benguela Diocese, the new diocese becomes one of the suffragan dioceses in the Metropolitan See of Huambo. It measures 24.447 square kilometers (about 9.4 square miles) and has a population of 947,826 — of whom 633,636 are Catholic, representing 66.9% of the total population of the territory of the diocese, according to the Holy See’s Aug. 1 report.

Born in Angola’s Archdiocese of Lubango on Sept. 2, 1966, Binga was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Benguela in April 1996 after completing his formation at Bom Pastor (Good Shepherd) Seminary and the Cristo Rei Seminary in the Huambo Diocese. He holds a bachelor’s degree, licentiate, and doctorate in dogmatic theology from the Faculty of Theology of Northern Spain.

As a priest, Binga served in various capacities including as prefect of discipline in the preparatory seminary in the Benguela Diocese, as collaborator in the Parish of Nossa Senhora dos Navegantes, as president of the Diocesan Commission for Study and Refresher Courses, and as a lecturer in various institutions of higher learning.

Binga was appointed auxiliary bishop of the Benguela Diocese in November 2021 and assigned the titular see of Nasbinca.

This article was first published by ACI Africa, CNA's news partner in Africa, and has been adapted by CNA.