Catholic Church in Liberia announces Episcopal Ordination of New Archbishop

The Catholic Church in Liberia announces the Episcopal Ordination of Very Rev. Monsignor Dr. Gabriel Blamo Snosio Jubwe as Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Monrovia on Saturday, May 4, 2024 at 10:00A.M. at the Sacred Heart Cathedral on Broad Street in Monrovia.
 

The Pontifical Mass is expected to be graced by international delegates from the Vatican in Rome, Italy, the United States of America, Europe and Africa.

It will also bring together regional prelates from the Gambia, Sierra Leone, Ghana and Nigeria as well as the local Bishops and lay faithful from the three dioceses in Liberia namely Cape Palmas, Gbarnga and the Archdiocese of Monrovia. The ordination will be followed by a Thanksgiving Mass on Sunday, May 5, 2024 to be celebrated by the new Archbishop.

According to the Episcopal Ordination Committee, Monsignor Jubwe becomes the third Archbishop of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Monrovia after Archbishop Lewis Jerome Zeglier and Michael Kpakala Francis both deceased.

Bishop Zeglier resigned in 2021 before he passed in August 2022. Very Reverend Monsignor Jubwe will be ordained as Bishop and will immediately ascend to the throne as Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Monrovia or the ecclesiastical province of Liberia, making him the first prelate to undergo this transition in the Catholic Church in Liberia.

On Tuesday, February 28, 2024, the Holy Father, Pope Francis through the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Walter Erbi wrote a letter appointing Most Very Rev. Monsignor Gabriel Blamo Jubwe as the new Archbishop of Monrovia.

The communication stated “it is with great joy that I write to inform you officially that the Holy Father Pope Francis has appointed you as the new Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Monrovia. The date of publication of this appointment will be Wednesday, February 28, 2024 at 12:00 noon in Rome that is 11:00 AM in Liberia.”

Monsignor Jubwe comes to the Archbishopric with a wealth of experience having been a priest for over four decades within the Archdiocese of Monrovia and serving in many key roles including Rector of the Sacred Heart Cathedral- the Parish of the Archbishop, Vicar General (1996-2000), Secretary General of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Liberia (1998-2001), Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies (1999-2004), Rector of the Saint Paul Major Seminary in Gbarnga (2001-2007), and member of the College of Consultors of the Archdiocese of Monrovia (2006-2021) among many others.

Meanwhile, the Protocol Committee for the Episcopal Ordination has announced that Reception after the Pontifical Mass will be held at the Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf Ministerial Complex in Congo Town, outside Monrovia for invited Guests, while another will be held within the compound of the Sacred Heart Cathedral.