Rudolf Nyandoro (born 11 October 1968) is a Zimbabwean Roman Catholic prelate who served as the Bishop of Gokwe since 2017. He was appointed the new Bishop of Gweru in September 2020. A Gweru native, he previously served a parish priest, seminary rector and professor, and most recently,

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

of the Diocese of Masvingo.

Early life and education

Nyandoro was born on 11 October 1968 in Gwelo,

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

(today Gweru, Zimbabwe). After primary school, he attended the Minory Seminary of Chikwingwizha. From 1991 to 1994, he studied philosophy at St. Charles Lwanga Major Seminary in

Chimanimani Chimanimani is a town in Zimbabwe. Location Chimanimani is a village located in Manicaland Province, in south-eastern Zimbabwe, close to the border with Mozambique. The village lies about , by road, south of Mutare, the location of the provinc ...

in the Diocese of Mutare. He then completed his theological studies at

Chishawasha Chishawasha is the name of a Roman Catholic Jesuit Mission (station), mission located about 25 km east of Harare, Zimbabwe. The mission was founded by the Jesuit priest Father Francis Richartz in 1892 on a large farm. The mission has 3 schools ...

Major Seminary in the

Archdiocese of Harare The Archdiocese of Harare ( Latin: ''Archidioecesis Hararensis'') is the Metropolitan See for the Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical province of Harare in Zimbabwe. Its ecclesiastic territory includes the city of Harare, and parts of the provinces ...

. He holds a BS and MS in Counseling from Zimbabwe Open University. In 2015, he earned his

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

in Pastoral Counseling from the University of South Africa.

Priesthood

Nyandoro was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Masvingo on 19 December 1998. In 1999, he worked as an assistant priest at the Mukaro mission, before serving from 2000 to 2006 as the rector of Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral in

Masvingo Masvingo is a city in south-eastern Zimbabwe and the capital of Masvingo Province. The city is situated close to Great Zimbabwe, the national monument from which the country takes its name and close to Lake Mutirikwi, its recreational park, th ...

. From 2007 to 2009, he was rector of the diocesan minor seminary. He served as rector of Bondolfi Teachers' College from 2010 to 2015. From 2015 to 2017, he was the

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

of the Diocese of Masvingo and a professor at Bondolfi Teachers' College.

Episcopate

On 28 January 2017, Nyandoro was appointed Bishop of Gokwe by

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. ...

. He was appointed to succeed Bishop Angel Floro Martínez, who resigned on the same day. His

episcopal ordination Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

was held on 29 April 2017, on the ground of St. Paul's Primary School in Gokwe. Bishop

Michael Dixon Bhasera Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian and ...

, President of the

Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops' Conference The country's Catholic bishops met in the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops' Conference, ZCBC), established by the Holy See on October 1, 1969. The statutes of the Conference were approved on March 25, 1981. The ...

and Bishop of Masvingo, was the

principal consecrator A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churches ...

. Archbishop Marek Zalewski, Apostolic Nuncio to Zimbabwe, and Angel Floro Martínez, Bishop Emeritus of Gokwe, served as co-consecrators. In addition to bishops and clergy, the ordination ceremony was attended by thousands of

laity In religious organizations, the laity () consists of all members who are not part of the clergy, usually including any non-ordained members of religious orders, e.g. a nun or a lay brother. In both religious and wider secular usage, a laype ...

. Congratulatory remarks were delivered by Archbishop Zalewski and

Robert Ndlovu Robert Christopher Ndlovu was installed as the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Harare on 21 August 2004. Education and career Ndlovu was born on 25 December 1955 at Tshongokwe, Matabeleland, Rhodesia. He was educated at the Marist Brothers Dete in ...

Archbishop of Harare The Archbishop of Harare heads the Roman Catholic Metropolitan See for Zimbabwe. In 2004, the number of Roman Catholics in the archdiocese was estimated as 483,293 (from a total population of 4,866,000), and they were served by 124 priests. There ...

Episcopal lineage

The following is Nyandoro's episcopal lineage: * Cardinal

Scipione Rebiba Scipione Rebiba (3 February 1504 – 23 July 1577) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church, a protégé of Gian Pietro Carafa, who became Pope Paul IV. He held a variety of positions in the Church hierarchy, including some of the most seni ...

* Cardinal

Giulio Antonio Santorio Giulio Antonio Santorio (6 June 1532 – 9 May 1602) was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. Biography Santorio was born in Caserta. He served as Archbishop of Santa Severina from 1566 until his death.

(1566) * Cardinal

Girolamo Bernerio Girolamo Cardinal Bernerio, O.P. (1540 – 5 August 1611) was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. Biography Bernerio was born in Corregio. He served as Bishop of Ascoli Piceno from 1586 until his resignation in 1605. He was ...

, OP (1586) * Archbishop

Galeazzo Sanvitale Galeazzo Sanvitale (died 8 September 1622) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Bari-Canosa (1604–1606). ''(in Latin)''Ludovico Ludovisi Ludovico Ludovisi (22 or 27 October 1595 – 18 November 1632) was an Italian cardinal and statesman of the Roman Catholic Church. He was an art connoisseur who formed a famous collection of antiquities, housed at the Villa Ludovisi in Rome. ...

(1621) * Cardinal

Luigi Caetani Luigi Caetani (July 1595 – 15 April 1642) was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. Biography Caetani was born in Piedimonte. Son of Filippo I Caetani, duke of Sermoneta, and Camilla Gaetani dell'Aquila d'Aragona, of the duk ...

(1622) * Cardinal

Ulderico Carpegna Ulderico Carpegna (24 June 1595 – 24 January 1679) was an Italian jurist and Cardinal. Biography Born at Scavolino, he was from a family of the Roman nobility, connected with the Montefeltro family. He became bishop of Gubbio

(1630) * Cardinal

Paluzzo Paluzzi Altieri Degli Albertoni Paluzzo Paluzzi Altieri degli Albertoni (8 June 1623 – 29 June 1698) was an Italian Catholic Cardinal and Cardinal-Nephew to Pope Clement X. Biography Altieri was born Paluzzo Paluzzi degli Albertoni in Rome, the eldest of two sons to Ant ...

(1666) *

Pope Benedict XIII Pope Benedict XIII ( la, Benedictus XIII; it, Benedetto XIII; 2 February 1649 – 21 February 1730), born Pietro Francesco Orsini and later called Vincenzo Maria Orsini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 May ...

(1675) *

Pope Benedict XIV Pope Benedict XIV ( la, Benedictus XIV; it, Benedetto XIV; 31 March 1675 – 3 May 1758), born Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 17 August 1740 to his death in May 1758. Pope Be ...

(1724) *

Pope Clement XIII Pope Clement XIII ( la, Clemens XIII; it, Clemente XIII; 7 March 1693 – 2 February 1769), born Carlo della Torre di Rezzonico, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 July 1758 to his death in February 1769. ...

(1743) * Cardinal

Marcantonio Colonna Marcantonio II Colonna (sometimes spelled Marc'Antonio; 1535 – August 1, 1584), Duke of Tagliacozzo and Duke and Prince of Paliano, was a Roman aristocrat who served as a Viceroy of Sicily in the service of the Spanish Crown, Spanish genera ...

(1762) * Cardinal

Hyacinthe Sigismond Gerdil Hyacinthe Sigismond Gerdil, CRSP (23 June 1718 – 12 August 1802) was an Italian theologian, bishop and cardinal, who was a significant figure in the response of the papacy to the assault on the Catholic Church by the upheavals caused by the ...

, CRSP (1777) * Cardinal

Giulio Maria della Somaglia Giulio Maria della Somaglia (29 July 1744 – 2 April 1830) was an Italian cardinal. He was, in his later life — a staunch '' zelante'' cardinal who, as Secretary of State under Pope Leo XII, helped enforce an authoritarian regime in th ...

(1788) * Cardinal

Carlo Odescalchi Carlo Odescalchi, (5 March 1785 – 17 August 1841) was an Italian prince and priest, Archbishop of Ferrara, cardinal of the Catholic Church and Vicar General of the Diocese of Rome. For years a close collaborator of popes Pius VII and Gregory XV ...

, SJ (1823) * Cardinal

Costantino Patrizi Naro Costantino Patrizi Naro JUD (4 September 1798 – 17 December 1876) was a long-serving Italian Cardinal who became Dean of the College of Cardinals. Cardinal Benedetto Naro was his great-uncle. Biography Born in Siena, Naro was educated in the C ...

(1828) * Cardinal

Lucido Parocchi Lucido Maria Parocchi (13 August 1833 – 15 January 1903) was an Italian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Secretary of the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office from 5 August 1896 until his death. Biography Luci ...

(1871) *

Pope Pius X Pope Pius X ( it, Pio X; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing modernist interpretations of ...

(1884) *

Pope Benedict XV Pope Benedict XV (Ecclesiastical Latin, Latin: ''Benedictus XV''; it, Benedetto XV), born Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa, name=, group= (; 21 November 185422 January 1922), was head of the Catholic Church from 1914 until his deat ...

(1907) * Cardinal

Willem Marinus van Rossum Willem Marinus van Rossum, C.Ss.R. (3 September 1854 – 30 August 1932) was a Dutch prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was made a cardinal in 1911, led the Apostolic Penitentiary from 1915 to 1918, and served as Prefect of the Congre ...

CSsR CSSR may refer to: * Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (Czech and Slovak: ''ČSSR''), onetime name of Czechoslovakia * Climate Science Special Report, Volume 1 of the Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4) 2017/2018 * Canadian Society for the Stud ...

(1918) * Archbishop

Bernhard Gijlswijk Bernhard is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name *Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar (1604–1639), Duke of Saxe-Weimar *Bernhard, Prince of Saxe-Meiningen (1901–1984), head of the House of Saxe-Meiningen 1946 ...

, OP (1922) * Bishop

Aston Chichester Aston Ignatius Sebastian Joseph Chichester, SJ (22 May 1879 – 24 October 1962) was the first Roman Catholic Archbishop of Salisbury (now Harare, Zimbabwe). Background Born in Ostend, Belgium of recusant English descent, he was educated at ...

, SJ (1931) * Bishop

Aloysius Haene Aloysius ( ) is a given name. Etymology It is a Latinisation of the names Alois, Louis, Lewis, Luis, Luigi, Ludwig, and other cognates (traditionally in Medieval Latin as ''Ludovicus'' or ''Chlodovechus''), ultimately from Frankish ''*H ...

, SMB (1950) * Bishop

Francis Xavier Mugadzi Francis Xavier Mugadzi (20 February 1931 in Gokomere – 6 February 2004) was a Zimbabwean clergyman and bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. ...

(1989) * Bishop

(1991) * Bishop Rudolf Nyandoro (2017)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nyandoro, Rudolf 1968 births 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Zimbabwe Bishops appointed by Pope Francis Chishawasha Seminary alumni People from Gweru Shona people University of South Africa alumni Zimbabwean educators Zimbabwe Open University alumni Living people Roman Catholic bishops of Gweru Roman Catholic bishops of Gokwe