Pope Benedict XVI named Archbishop Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya of Kinshasa, Congo, as the special secretary of the October Synod of Bishops on the Bible.Archbishop Monsengwo, a longtime biblicist and one of Africa's most experienced churchmen, will assist in the preparation of two reports during the synod and the preparation of its final recommendations.
He replaces Bishop Wilhelm Egger of Bolzano-Bressanone, Italy, who died of a heart attack in mid-August. Bishop Egger was named special secretary in January and had been working over the summer to prepare for the Oct. 5-26 assembly.
Archbishop Nikola Eterovic, secretary-general of the Synod of Bishops, told Vatican Radio Aug. 23 that the pope's appointment of Archbishop Monsengwo was a sign of the importance of Africa for the church.
Archbishop Monsengwo, 68, has participated in several synods in recent decades and, as a member of the Synod of Bishops' 15-man council, had been involved closely in the planning for the synod on the Bible.
Archbishop Monsengwo studied in the 1960s at Rome's Pontifical Biblical Institute, earning a doctorate in biblical sciences. He was made a bishop in 1980, and was named to head the Archdiocese of Kinshasa in late 2007.
He is president of the Congolese bishops' conference and former president of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar.
Archbishop Eterovic said that the planning for the October synod was in its final phase, and that a list of papal appointees to the synod would be announced soon.
Some 250 bishops and some priests are expected to participate in the synod; they will include representatives chosen by bishops' conferences, synods of Eastern churches and confederations of religious orders.
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(Source: CNS)