Profile: Only Nigerian Bishop who will vote for next Pope

Following Pope Francis’s death, the papal conclave will elect a new pope.

The Pope died on Easter Monday, a day after blessing thousands of people in St Peter’s Square.

Once Pope Francis is buried, the dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, has 15 to 20 days to summon the cardinals to Rome.

137 cardinal electors will attend a College of Cardinals meeting in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel, where they will be tasked with choosing the new leader of the Catholic Church.

Checks by The Nation revealed that Nigeria has only one elector and three non-elector cardinals.

The only Nigerian elector is Peter Okpaleke, the Catholic Bishop of Ekwulobia, Anambra state, who was appointed a cardinal by the Late Pope Francis in 2022.

Other cardinals from the country include Francis Arinze (92), John Onaiyekan (81), and Anthony Olubunmi Okogie (88).

They all can participate in the debate for the next pope, but do not have a vote when the secret ballots are cast later this month or early in May.

Fr. Peter Okpaleke was born on 1st of March 1963 in Amesi in Anambra State. Okpaleke has been Bishop of Ekwulobia since 29th of April 2020.

He was appointed Bishop of Ahiara in 2012 and consecrated in 2013, but after the local clergy and laity insisted on an Mbaise bishop instead he was installed as bishop of Ekwulobia.

He was later created a Cardinal in 2022 by Pope Francis on 27 August.

He attended local schools and in 1983 entered the Bigard Memorial Major Seminary in Ikot-Ekpene and Enugu, where he studied philosophy and theology from 1983 to 1992.

He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Awka on 22 August 1990.

Pope Francis made him a cardinal on 27 August 2022, assigning him to the rank of Cardinal-Priest of Ss. Martiri dell’Uganda a Poggio Ameno.

Fr. Peter Okpaleke spent most of his priestly life in the chancery with breaks in between when he went on post-graduate studies and when he had some stints of pastoral ministry in the parish context.

He served as Assistant Secretary to the Bishop (1992-1995); the Awka Diocesan Financial Administrator (1997-1999), and the Diocesan Chancellor (2002-2011).

As Diocesan Chancellor, he was also the Diocesan Master of Ceremonies and served on many boards, committees, and commissions of the Diocese.

Fr. Peter served pastorally as the Assistant Chaplain (1997-1998) and then Chaplain of St. Joseph the Worker Chaplaincy, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka (1998-1999) respectively.

He also served as the Administrator of St. Anthony’s parish Nanka, from March 2002 – October 2002 and the Parish Priest of Ss. John and Paul Umubele Awka from October 2011 to May 1, 2013.

Okpaleke belongs to the Canon Law Society of Nigeria since 1995.

He had also served as the Co-ordinator for Research and Publications, Canon Law Society of Nigeria from 2009 to 2013.

Currently, he is the Chairman of the Canon Law Commission of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (C.B.C.N) having completed his tenure as the Chairman of the Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS) of the same Conference.

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