Pope Francis has named Passionist Father Emery Kibal Mansong’loo as bishop of the Diocese of Kole, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The 45-year-old bishop-elect fills a position that had been vacant since Bishop Stanislas Lukumwena Lumbala resigned in 2008.
Emery Kibal Mansong’loo was born in Kimputu in 1969 and joined the Passionist priests, taking his perpetual vows in 1998 and being ordained the same year.
The Diocese of Kole has some 158,000 Catholics in a population of 487,000 (32%). They are served by some 65 priests and 80 religious.
The bishops of Congo met with Pope Francis this week in the context of their ad limina visits.
