Dieudonné Nzapalainga, CSSp (born 14 March 1967) is a Central African

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

cardinal, the Archbishop of Bangui and a member of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit. Nzapalainga served as the apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Bangui from 2009 until mid-2012 when

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the soverei ...

appointed him as its metropolitan archbishop; since 2013 he has served as the President of the Central African Episcopal Conference. When

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

made Nzapalainga a cardinal on 19 November 2016 he became the youngest cardinal at the time and the first born after the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...

Life

Dieudonné Nzapalainga was born in Bangassou on 14 March 1967. After completing his secondary schooling he commenced his period of formation with the

Spiritans , image = Holy Ghost Fathers seal.png , size = 175px , caption = The seal of the Congregation depicting the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Trinity. , abbreviation ...

and began his time as a postulant at Otéle in

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

. Nzapalainga underwent his philosophical studies at Libreville in

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the nort ...

and his novitiate with the order in

Mbalmayo Mbalmayo is a town in Cameroon's Centre Region. The town had 60,091 inhabitants in 2012. It is the capital of the Nyong-et-So'o Division It is located at the banks of the Nyong river between Ebolowa and Yaoundé. It is an agricultural centre ...

in Cameroon while later undergoing theological studies in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. He professed his initial vows into the order on 8 September 1993 and made his perpetual profession on 6 September 1997; he was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

to the

diaconate A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

the following day. He was ordained to the priesthood on 9 August 1998 in Bangassou. The new priest began his pastoral mission in

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

in France and worked as a chaplain at the Saint Francis de Sales house there while also ministering at the parish of Saint Jerome. In total he served in France from 1998 until 2005 when he returned to the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...

. In March 2006 he was appointed the superior for his region of the order and remained in the post until 2008. Nzapalainga became the apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Bangui following the resignation of Paulin Pomodimo and remained as such until mid-2012.

– on 14 May 2012 – appointed him the Archbishop of Bangui and he later received his

episcopal consecration A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

on 22 July 2012 from Cardinal

Fernando Filoni Fernando Filoni (born 15 April 1946) is a cardinal prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who serves as Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre. He was Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples from 2011 to 2 ...

before being installed in his new archdiocese on 29 July 2012. Nzapalainga was elevated to the rank of cardinal priest at a

consistory Consistory is the anglicized form of the consistorium, a council of the closest advisors of the Roman emperors. It can also refer to: *A papal consistory, a formal meeting of the Sacred College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church * Consistor ...

held on 19 November 2016. He was assigned the titular church of Sant'Andrea della Valle. He remained the youngest member of the

College of Cardinals The College of Cardinals, or more formally the Sacred College of Cardinals, is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church. its current membership is , of whom are eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope. Cardinals are app ...

until the appointment of Paulo Cezar Costa in 2022. He assumed possession of his titular church on 18 December 2016.

References

External links

* *
Catholic HierarchyCrux Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nzapalainga, Dieudonné 1967 births 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Africa Central African Republic Roman Catholic archbishops Living people Cardinals created by Pope Francis People from Bangassou Recipients of the Four Freedoms Award Central African Republic cardinals Holy Ghost Fathers Roman Catholic archbishops of Bangui