The Episcopal appointment of Mons. Bududu, who has been serving as Vicar for Consecrated Life and the Parish Priest of St. Joseph Kipalapala Parish of the Tanzanian Metropolitan See was made public by the Holy See Press Office on Wednesday, February 26.
The Tanzanian-born Bishop-elect, who has been assigned the titular See of Vegesela in Numidia, Italy, was born in March 1977 in Kaliua in Tabora Archdiocese.
He was ordained a Priest for his native Archdiocese on 9 July 2009 after completing his philosophical and theological studies at Kibosho Major Seminary in Tanzania’s Moshi Catholic Diocese and Kipalapala Major Seminary in Tabora Archdiocese, respectively.
As a Priest, Mons. Bududu has served in various capacities, including Parish ministry. The holder of a Doctorate in Spirituality from the Tamil Nadu Institute of Spirituality and St. Peter’s Pontifical Institute in Bangalore, India, has also served as formator at Archbishop Mario Mgulunde Propaedeutic Seminary in Kipalapala.
The Tanzanian Bishop-elect has also served as a Professor at St. Paul’s Kipalapala Senior Seminary, and Spiritual Director of the Religious Congregation of the Daughters of Mary Sisters in Tabora.
Once Consecrated Bishop, Mons. Bududu will assist 64-year-old Cardinal Rugambwa, who was appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of Tabora in April 2023, named Cardinal in July 2023, and created Cardinal during the September 2023 Consistory.
Erected in January 1887 as Vicariate Apostolic of Unianyembé, the 76,151-square-kilometer Metropolitan See that has Kahama, Kigoma, and Mpanda as Suffragan Dioceses was elevated to an Archdiocese in March 1953.
Tabora Archdiocese has a population of 261,216 Catholics, representing 11.3 percent of the total population in the Metropolitan See, according to 2023 statistics.