Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – The Holy Father has appointed the Revered Joseph-Bernard Likolo Bokal'Etumba, of the clergy of Kinshasa, until now secretary of the Episcopal Commission for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments of the C.E.N.C.O., as bishop of the diocese of Lisala, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Bishop Joseph-Bernard Likolo Bokal'Etumba was born on 29 August 1967 in Kinshasa. He attended the Preparatory Seminary in Kinshasa from 1987 to 1988. He studied philosophy at the Saint André Kaggwa Major Seminary (1988-1991) and theology at the Saint Jean XXIII Grand Séminaire de Theologie (1991-1996) in Kinshasa. From 1996 to 1999 he carried out a pastoral internship at the Sainte Angèle Parish in Kinshasa.
He was ordained a priest on 30 May 1999 for the Archdiocese of Kinshasa.
After ordination he first served as vicar and parish priest of Sainte Angèle (1999-2004) and director of the primary school of the same name (1996-2004). He then obtained a licentiate in theology from the Institut Catholique de Paris, France (2004-2008) and a doctorate in liturgy from the Pontifical Athenaeum of Saint Anselm in Rome (2008-2013); He went on to serve as referent for vocations, seminarians and priests of the Emmanuel Community in the Democratic Republic of Congo (since 2010); lecturer in liturgy at the Grand Séminaire de Theologie Saint Jean XXIII (since 2013); director of the Maison Jean-Jacques Olier for the formation and accompaniment of priests in difficulty (2014-2020); and secretary of the Episcopal Commission for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments of the Conferénce Episcopale Nationale du Congo (C. E.N.C.O.), from 2016 to the present. (SL) (Agenzia Fides, 15/2/2021)
