5 July 2021 (CCBI) His Holiness Pope Francis has appointed a Goan priest Fr Anthony (Tony) Pascal Rebello (70), SVD, as bishop of Francistown, Botswana, a southern African country.
The appointment was made public on 5 July 2021.Fr Rebello, who hails from Fatorda, Goa was born on 18 March 1950 in Nairobi-Kenya, Fr Rebello entered the Society of the Divine Word (SVD) in 1969, completing his noviciate in Khurda, Madhya Pradesh.
He concluded his priestly formation at the Divine Word Seminary of Pune (1969-1977) and was ordained a priest in Goa on 10 May 1977. Following his ordination, he first exercised his pastoral ministry in India and obtained a Bachelor of Education (1977-1979).
He was then awarded a licentiate in spiritual theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome (1979-1981), and went on to serve as a missionary in Botswana, where he was parish priest in Palapye (1981-1984), in Kenya, where he also held the office of provincial superior (1984-1987), in Antigua, where he exercised his ministry in a rural parish and then in the Holy Family Cathedral (1987-1990); and in Angola, where he held the roles of parish vicar (1990-1992), parish priest (1992-1996) and master of novices (1996-2000).
He then continued his pastoral ministry in India (2000-2002). Since 2003 he has served as a missionary in Botswana, in the diocese of Gaborone, where he has held the office of the parish priest of Palapye and Metsimotlhabe, and until now in the Holy Cross parish in Mogoditshane.
Rev. Dr. Stephen Alathara
Deputy Secretary-General, CCBI