Pope Francis Gives Nigerian Bishop, Emmanuel Badejo New Appointment

The head of the worldwide Catholic Church, Pope Francis has appointed Bishop Emmanuel Badejo of the Catholic Diocese of Oyo State to the Vatican Dicastery for Communications.

The appointment was disclosed in a statement by Rev. Fr. John Irekiigbe, the Director of Communications, Oyo Diocese, on Friday.

Recall that the Dicastery of Communications is the administrative department of the Holy See (The Vatican State) through which Pope Francis directs affairs that pertain to Social Communications in the Roman Catholic Church.

Badejo, a communications scholar, has been the Bishop President for CEPACS, which is the communications committee of Bishops for the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) since 2015.

Badejo served as the Communications Secretary and later on, Director, to the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria between 1996 and 2003.

The Bishop is presently the Vice-Chairman, Social Communications Department of the Regional Episcopal Conferences of West Africa (RECOWA).

Reacting to his new appointment, Badejo told NAN, “I pray and trust that this assignment of service will help the communication apostolate of the Catholic Church in Nigeria and Africa to relate better with the Holy Father’s pastoral initiatives and better expose the pastoral activities of the Church in Nigeria and in Africa to the whole world.”

Other members of the Dicastery are Reverend Sr. Nathalie Becquart, X.M.C.J, the Undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops and Archbishop Borys Gudziak of Philadelphia of the Ukrainians.

Also, Archbishop Jorge Eduardo Lozano of San Juan de Cuyo, the Secretary-General of the Latin American Episcopal Council (C.E.L.A.M.) and Cardinal Maura Gambetti, O.F.M, the archpriest of the Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican.