Archbishop-in-waiting welcomed to Durban
A CELEBRATION service was hosted at St Henry’s Marist College yesterday to welcome Bishop Abel Gabuza, who will administer the Archdiocese of Durban with Wilfrid Cardinal Napier, OFM.
Gabuza, who presided as Bishop of Kimberley, was officially welcomed as the Coadjutor Archbishop of Durban.
Following his nomination as Bishop of Kimberley by Pope Benedict XVI, Gabuza, 63, was ordained bishop on March 19, 2011 in Kimberley.
He will work alongside Napier, 77, who remains Archbishop of Durban until the pope accepts his resignation, which he submitted nearly three years ago. Gabuza will succeed Napier as Archbishop of Durban once the pope accepts Napier’s resignation.
Gabuza will be the first diocesan priest and the first black African to lead the archdiocese.
The archdiocese has had only five bishops in its long history, with a Catholic population of around 15 750.
Napier tendered his resignation in 2016 on his 75th birthday, in line with canon law that required him to step down once he reached that age. However, the pope asked him to stay on for another two years and when that was up, to continue indefinitely.