Appointments in the Ecclesiastical Tribunal of the Vicariate of Vatican City State

Resignation and appointment of bishop of Kabgayi, Rwanda

Appointments in the Ecclesiastical Tribunal of the Vicariate of Vatican City State

His Holiness Francis has appointed the Reverend Msgr. Alessandro Recchia, vicar general of the diocese of Sora-Cassino-Aquino-Pontecorvo, Italy, as defender of the bond at the Ecclesiastical Tribunal of the Vicariate of Vatican City State.

Furthermore, the Holy Father has appointed the Reverend Ernest Bonaventure Ogbonnia Okonkwo, lecturer in the Faculty of Canon Law of the Pontifical Urbanian University, Rome, as promoter of justice in the aforementioned Ecclesiastical Tribunal.

Resignation and appointment of bishop of Kabgayi, Rwanda

The Holy Father has accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Kabgayi, Rwanda, presented by Bishop Smaragde Mbonyintege.

The Holy Father has appointed the Reverend Balthazar Ntivuguruzwa, of the clergy of Kabgayi, until now rector of the Higher Catholic Institute of Kabgayi, as bishop of the same diocese.

Curriculum vitae

Msgr. Balthazar Ntivuguruzwa was born on 15 September 1967 in the district of Muhanga. After his studies at the major seminary of philosophy in Kabgayi, he completed the cycle of theology at the Catholic University of Kinshasa, and was ordained a priest on 18 January 1997 for the diocese of Kabgayi.

After ordination, he first served as vice rector and teacher in the minor seminary of Kabgayi (1997-2000) and secretary to the bishop of Kabgayi (2000-2003). He was awarded a doctorate in moral theology from the Université Catholique de Louvain in Belgium. He went on to serve as deputy parish priest of Saint-Rémy and Sainte-Renelde in the archdiocese of Malines-Bruxelles (2003-2010), and professor and prefect of studies at the major seminary of Nyakibanda (2010-2017). From 2017 to date, he has been rector of the Catholic Institute of Kabgayi.