Pope Appoints Bishop Kukah Member On Integral Development
BY SEGUN ADEBAYO, ABUJA – The Holy Father, Pope Francis, has appointed the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Dr Matthew Hassan Kukah, as a member of the Dicastery for the Promotion of Human Integral Development, according to an appointment letter conveyed to the Bishop, and dated 11th December, 2020, that was signed by His Eminence, Peter Cardinal Turkson, the Prefect of the Dicastery.
According to a press statement made available to Forefront and signed by Director, Social Communications of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Rev. Fr Christopher A. Omotosho of the St. Bakhita Catholic Secretariat, “By this appointment, Bishop Kukah will join other members of the Dicastery drawn from different regions of the world to advise and promote the Holy Father’s concerns on issues of justice and peace, human rights, torture, human trafficking, care of creation and other issues related to the promotion of human dignity and development. The appointment, which is renewable is for an initial period of five years. The Council will be formally inaugurated on a later date.”
The statement added that the “Dicastery for the Promotion of Integral Human Development* was created on January 1, 2017, when four Dicasteries, namely, *the Pontifical Councils for Justice and Peace, Cor Unum, Pastoral Care of Immigrants and Itinerant People and Health Care of Workers*, were all merged by the Holy Father.”
This latest appointment from the Vatican “adds to Bishop Kukah’s string of national and international engagements within the universal Church as he was “first appointed a ‘Consultor’ and later a member of the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue, Vatican City and served under three Popes.
Bishop Kukah is currently the Chairman, Dialogue Committees of both the Regional Episcopal Conference of West Africa (RECOWA) and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN). He also served as a member of the official Delegation of the Holy See that met with the Emir of Qatar when that country opened diplomatic relations with the Holy See in 2002.
In 2016, Bishop Kukah was nominated by the Vatican to represent Africa on the Advisory Board of the Vienna based, King Abdulazeez International Interfaith and Intercultural Dialogue, KAIICID.
KAIICID is the fruit of collaboration between the governments of Saudi Arabia, Austria and the Holy See for the promotion of worldwide dialogue between world religions. The Bishop “comes to the Dicastery on the Promotion of Integral Development, with a lot of experience in the areas of human rights, justice and reconciliation” the statement noted.
