Bishop Gabriel Lionel Afagbegee

Pope Francis has appointed Reverend Father Gabriel Lionel Afagbegee SVD Apostolic Administrator of Francistown Diocese. In a Wednesday, June 5 statement, the Apostolic Nunciature in Southern Africa says Fr. Afagbegee was appointed on May 22 to temporarily administer the Diocese, following the passing of Bishop Anthony Pascal Rebello on May 4. Before he was appointed the Administrator of the Catholic Diocese of Francistown in Botswana, Fr. Afagbegee was serving as the Vicar General of the Diocese. The member of the Society of the Divine Word (SVD) has previously served as the Provincial Superior of SVD, Parish Priest of San Salvador Catholic Church and Tlhatlogong Catholic Church, Director of Lumko Pastoral Institute and Kanamo Pastoral and Catechetical Center. Erected in June 1998 as the Vicariate Apostolic of Francistown before being elevated to a diocese in October 2017, Francistown Diocese is part of the Metropolitan See of Pretoria, and according to 2021 statistics the Diocese has 30,600 Catholics representing 2.4 percent of the total population in the Episcopal See.