facebook Pope Francis appoints MSC Bishop in the Democratic Republic of the Congo - Missionaries of the Sacred Heart
16 May 2019

Sincere congratulations to the Rev Fr Toussaint Iluku Bolumbu MSC, who has been appointed by Pope Francis as bishop of the diocese of Bokungu-Ikela, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Currently acting as superior of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart for the French-speaking African region, Bishop-Elect Toussaint is the first MSC African bishop.

Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, MSC Missions, MSCs in Africa, missionary work in Africa, MSCs in the Congo, missionary work in the Congo, Rev Fr Toussaint Iluku Bolumbu MSC, Bishop-Elect Toussaint Iluku Bolumbu MSC

The bishop-elect was born in Monieka, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo), in November 1964, the seventh in a family of eleven children. He entered the novitiate of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, and was ordained a priest in 1995, having professed his religious vows the previous year. He holds bachelor’s degrees in both philosophy and theology, and has served in a wide range of pastoral roles including parish priest, vice rector, bursar, and later superior and director of formation of the MSC School in Yaoundé, teacher of philosophy and theology, vice president of the Association of Major Superiors of the ecclesiastical province of Mbandaka-Bikoro, assistant to the secretariat general of the General Chapter of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart in Rome, and moderator of the General Conference of Missionaries of the Sacred Heart in Yaoundé.

In April, Rev Fr Toussaint was appointed fourth bishop of the diocese of Bokungu-Ikela. His ordination will take place on July 21st in Bokungo, by Bishop Fridolin Ambongo Besungo, Archbishop of Kinshasa and Apostolic Administrator of Mbandaka Bikoro.

We send our very best wishes to Bishop-Elect Toussaint
from the Irish Province of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart!