Sunday, November 04, 2012

Pope appoints Kukah to Vatican’s Pontifical Council

Pope Benedict XVI has appointed the Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Sokoto, Matthew Hassan Kukah, as a member of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue, Vatican City.  

The 13-member Council is the highest decision and policy-making body for the Council for the Holy Father.
 
Kukah’s appointment is coming after the appointment of the Archbishop of Abuja, John Onaiyekan as a Cardinal.
 
The Bishop has recently had sundry of appointments and awards.
 
In May, the President of the Conference of Bishops of English and French speaking West Africa appointed Kukah as the Chairman of the Commission on Culture, Inter-religious Dialogue and Ecumenism.
 
In February, he was elected Chairman of the Commission on Inter-religious Dialogue for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria.
 
He had earlier served the Council in five-year tenure when Francis Cardinal Arinze served as the President of the Council.
 
He was a delegate at the just-concluded Synod of Bishops for the New Evangelisation in the Vatican.