AFRICA/SOUTH AFRICA - Appointment of the Bishop of Klerksdorp

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - On 24 November 2014 the Holy Father appointed Rev. Victor Hlolo Phalana, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Pretoria as Bishop of the Diocese of Klerksdorp, South Africa.
Rev. Victor Hlolo Phalana was born on April 3, 1961 in Erasmus, Odi, in the North West Province, Archdiocese of Pretoria. He studied philosophy and theology at the St. John Vianney Major Seminary in Pretoria. He holds a degree in spirituality at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome (1993-1995); he also carried out studies in African Cultures at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa in Nairobi (1999). He was ordained a priest on 14 May 1988, incardinated in the Archdiocese of Pretoria.
Since his ordination, he has served in a number of pastoral and academic roles: 1988-1989: Assistant priest of St. Camillus, in Hammanskraal; 1989-1992: Pastor of Christ the King church, Mabopane; 1992-1993: Professor at the Preparatory Seminary in Hammanskraal and Cape Town; 1993-1995: Studies for a Licentiate in Spiritual Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome; 1995-1999: Spiritual Director of the St. Peter Philosophical Seminary and professor at the St. John Vianney Major Seminary; 1999-2004: Professor at the Pastoral Lumuko Institute; 2004-2008: Pastor of Good Shepherd and St. Peter in Winterveldt; since 2007: Administrator of the Cathedral of Pretoria; since 2011: Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Pretoria. (SL) (Agenzia Fides 24/11/2014)