Pope Francis accepts resignation of Cardinal Pengo

What you need to know:

Ruwa’ichi, who succeeds Pengo, was born in 1954 in Mulo Kilema, Kilimanjaro region and he became Ordained Priest in 1981 before being appointed as Bishop of Mbulu Diocese in 1999.

Dar es Salaam. Pope Francis has accepted the request of retirement of the Dar es Salaam Archbishop Cardinal Polycarp Pengo, aged 75. Pengo is retiring.

A statement issued on Thursday August 15 by the secretary general of Tanzania Episcopal Conference (TEC) Dr Charles Kitima said Fr Thaddeus Ruwa’ichi who was Coadjutor Archbishop of Dar es Salaam Archdiocese takes over the office from Cardinal Pengo.

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Ruwa’ichi was born in 1954 in Mulo Kilema, Kilimanjaro region and he became Ordained Priest in 1981 before being appointed as Bishop off Mbulu diocese in 1999.

He was appointed the bishop of Dodoma in 2005 and appointed an Archbishop of Mwanza in 2010 and installed to the post a year later. He later became the Coadjutor Archbishop of Dar es Salaam Archdiocese in June last year.

Pengo’s history in priesthood

Cardinal Pengo was ordained a priest in 1971, he studied Moral Theology in Rome at the Pontifical Lateran University, obtaining a doctorate in 1977.

He taught Moral theology in Kipalapala Theological Seminary for a short time, and then became the first Rector of Segerea Theological Seminary in Dar-es-Salaam up to 1983.

He was made Bishop of Nachingwea in 1983, and of Tunduru-Masasi in 1985, assuming the post in that year.

In 1990 he was named Coadjutor Archbishop of Dar es Salaam, and in 1992 he became Archbishop of Dar-es-Salaam, following the resignation of Cardinal Laurean Rugambwa.

Cardinal Pengo was proclaimed a Cardinal by Pope John Paul II in the consistory of 21 February 1998 and was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2005 papal conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI and in the 2013 papal conclave that elected Pope Francis.