Bishop Bernardin Francis Mfumbusa of the Catholic Diocese of Kondoa in Tanzania has died at the age of 64, less than a week after Pope Leo XIV appointed him to the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication.
In a statement announcing the death of Bishop Mfumbusa and signed by the Secretary General of the Tanzania Episcopal Conference (TEC), the Conference President says that the Bishop died on Tuesday, April 14 at 05:45 a.m. while receiving treatment at Benjamin Mkapa Hospital in Dodoma.
Bishop Mfumbusa was born on 1 April 1962 in Arusha, Tanzania. He was ordained a Priest on 14 June 1992 for the Diocese of Dodoma after completing his philosophical and theological formation.
Following his ordination, he served in pastoral and academic roles within the Church in Tanzania, including teaching and diocesan administration.
On 12 March 2011, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him the first Bishop of the newly erected Diocese of Kondoa. He was Consecrated Bishop on 15 May 2011 at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Kondoa.
Since then, he has been serving as the Shepherd of the Diocese, which was created from the territory of the Diocese of Dodoma.
He is also widely recognised for his contributions to Church communication structures in Africa, including at the Pan-African Episcopal Committee for Social Communications (CEPACS), where he currently serves as the president.
In a video published Tuesday, April 14, the TEC Secretary General, Fr. Charles Kitima, said that the Bishop’s death comes as a sudden event because, although he had been undergoing treatment, he suffered a cardiac arrest that led to a deterioration in his condition.
“Initial treatment showed signs of hope, but by last night his condition worsened, and eventually the time came when he left us,” Fr. Kitima said, adding, “It is with deep sorrow that we lose this relatively young Bishop, who was 64 years old.”
The TEC SG further said that the late Bishop’s leadership had only just begun to flourish since his appointment as Bishop in 2011, when he became the founding Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Kondoa.
He said that the “diocese is still young, and he leaves it while serving it wholeheartedly and with all his strength.”
“We therefore wish to share this news with the entire community, and also to affirm that, as Christians, we believe in God who created us in His image and likeness, and who allows us to share in His divine life here on earth through our good deeds,” he said.
“We receive this loss with great sorrow, but it is a sorrow that we are called to embrace with the eyes of faith in the Risen Christ, especially as we celebrate the Easter season and reflect on its meaning,” he said.
According to TEC, the Requiem Mass and burial will take place on Thursday, April 22 at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in the Diocese of Kondoa, beginning at 10:00 a.m.
The body of Bishop Mfumbusa will be received at St. Paul of the Cross Cathedral, Archdiocese of Dodoma, on Wednesday, April 21 at 8:00 a.m., followed by a Requiem Mass and viewing by the faithful of Dodoma.
Thereafter, the body will be transported to the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in the Diocese of Kondoa the same Wednesday at 12:00 noon. This will be followed by a Requiem Mass at 4:00 p.m., after which the faithful will continue to pay their respects.
On Thursday, April 22 at 10.00 a.m., the Requiem Mass for burial will be held at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Kondoa, followed by the burial rites.