Pope Francis has named Nigeria’s Bishop Peter Ebere Okpaleke as a cardinal, along with 20 others drawn mostly outside of Europe.
Okpaleke, the rejected bishop of Ahiara in Imo State, is at present bishop of Ekwulobia in Anambra State. Pope Francis named the 21 new cardinals on Sunday, which dominated Catholic hierarchy for most of the church’s history — and further putting his mark on the group of people who might someday elect the next pontiff.
Sixteen of those who will receive the prestigious red cardinal’s hat from Francis in a consistory ceremony at the Vatican on August 27 are younger than 80 and thus would be eligible to vote for his successor if a conclave — in which pontiffs are secretly elected — were to be held.
Francis read out the names of his choices after delivering traditional Sunday remarks from an open window of the Apostolic Palace to the public in St. Peter’s Square.
Among those tapped by the pontiff to receive the prestigious red hat will be two prelates from India and one each from Ghana, Nigeria, Singapore, East Timor, Paraguay, and Brazil, in keeping with Francis’ determination to have church leaders reflect the global face of the Catholic church.
With church growth largely stagnant or at best sluggish in much of Europe and North America, the Vatican has been attentive to its flock in developing countries, including in Africa, where the number of faithful has been growing in recent decades. Only one new cardinal was named from the United States, Robert Walter McElroy, bishop of San Diego, California.
This is the eighth batch of cardinals that Francis has named since becoming pontiff in 2013.
A total of 131 cardinals would be young enough to elect a pope once the new batch are included, while the number of cardinals too old to vote will rise to 96.
Pontiffs traditionally have chosen their closest advisors and collaborators at the Vatican from among the ranks of cardinals, who have been dubbed the “princes of the church.”
These are the churchmen named by Francis: Jean-Marc Aveline, archbishop of Marseille, France; Peter Okpaleke, bishop of Ekwulobia, Nigeria; Leonardo Ulrich Steiner, archbishop of Manaus, Brazil; Filipe Neri Antonio Sebastao di Rosario Ferrao, archbishop of Goa and Damao, India; Robert Walter McElroy, bishop of San Diego, California; Virgilio Do Carmo Da Silva, archbishop of Dili, East Timor; Oscar Cantoni, bishop of Como, Italy; Anthony Poola. archbishop of Hyderabad, India; Paulo Cezar Costa, archbishop of Brasilia, Brazil; Richard Kuuia Baawobr, bishop of Wa, Ghana; William Goh Seng Chye, archbishop of Singapore; Adalberto Martinez Flores, archbishop of Asuncion, Paraquay; and Giorgio Marengo, apostolic prefect of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. In addition to those churchmen, also under 80 and eligible to vote in a conclave are three prelates who work at the Vatican: Arthur Roche of Britain, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments; Lazzarro You Heung-sik of South Korea, prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy; and Fernando Vergez Alzaga of Spain, president of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State and president of the Vatican City State’s Governorate.
Born March 1, 1963 at Amesi in Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State, Okpaleke attended Uga Boys’ Secondary School, Uga (1976- 1981), St. John Bosco Seminary, Isuaniocha (1982-1983), Bigard Memorial Seminary, now St. Joseph’s Major Seminary, Ikot-Ekpene (1983-1987), Bigard Memorial Seminary, Enugu (1988-1992), Catholic Institute of West Africa (CIWA), Port Harcourt (1995-1997). He also attended Pontificia Universita Della Santa Croce, Rome, Italy, (1999-2002) where he obtained a doctorate degree in Canon Law in First Class Honours.
He also has a diploma in Ecclesiastical Administration. Bishop Okpaleke was ordained a priest on August 22, 1992, after which he served as Assistant Secretary to the Bishop (1992-1995) and subsequently the Awka Diocesan Financial Administrator (1997-1999) and the Diocesan Chancellor (2002-2011).
He later became the chaplain of St. Joseph the Worker Chaplaincy, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka (1998-1999), and was at a time the administrator of St. Anthony’s Parish Nanka from March 2002 – October 2002 and the parish priest of Ss. John and Paul Umubele Awka from October 2011 to May 1, 2013. Okpaleke was appointed the Bishop of Ahiara Diocese by his Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI on December 7, 2012.
The episcopal ordination took place on May 21, 2013, at Seat of Wisdom Seminary, Owerri, because of the opposition, spearheaded by some members of the clergy of Ahiara Diocese, Bishop Peter Okpaleke did not take canonical possession of the Diocese of Ahiara and did not exercise episcopal ministry in Ahiara.
Okpaleke was installed April 29, 2019, as the bishop of the new Ekwulobia diocese, after renouncing his appointment to Ahiara in 2018, in an effort to resolve the situation.
