John Ribat (born 9 February 1957) is a Papua New Guinean

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pre ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church 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 ...

and a

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **'' Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **'' Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, t ...

since 2016. He has been Archbishop of Port Moresby since 2008.

Biography

Ribat was born in Volavolo,

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

. He professed as a member of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in February 1979. He was ordained a priest on 1 December 1985. He worked as a parish priest, continued his studies in

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populated ...

, and served as master of novices for the Missionaries in

Suva Suva () is the capital and largest city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rewa Province, Central Div ...

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consis ...

. On 30 October 2000,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

named him auxiliary bishop of

Bereina Bereina is a town in the Central Province of Papua New Guinea. It is located on the Hiritano Highway about north-west of Port Moresby, and contains the headquarters of both the Kairuku-Hiri District and the Kairuku Rural local-level government ...

and titular bishop of Macriana Minor. He was consecrated bishop on 11 February 2001 and named Bishop of Bereina on 12 February 2002.

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 sovereig ...

named him Coadjutor Archbishop of

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New ...

on 16 April 2007 and he succeeded to that office on 26 March 2008. He was conferred a knighthood on 12 June 2016 in the

Queen's Birthday Honours list The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning British monarch's official birthday by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are presen ...

. On 9 October 2016,

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 ...

announced that he planned to raise Ribat to the rank of cardinal at a consistory scheduled for 19 November 2016. He was made a Cardinal Priest on that day and assigned to the titular church of San Giovanni Battista de Rossi. He is the first cardinal from his country. Francis made him a member of the

Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development The Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development (''Dicasterium ad integram humanam progressionem fovendam'' in Latin) is a dicastery of the Roman curia. The Vatican announced the creation of the dicastery on 31 August 2016 and it beca ...

on 23 December 2017.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ribat, John 1957 births Living people Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire People from East New Britain Province 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Papua New Guinea Cardinals created by Pope Francis Missionaries of the Sacred Heart Papua New Guinean cardinals Papua New Guinean knights Roman Catholic archbishops of Port Moresby Roman Catholic bishops of Bereina Papua New Guinean Roman Catholic archbishops