ZAMBIA: Pope Francis Elevates Ndola Diocese to Archdiocese
Archbishop-elect Benjamin Phiri of Ndola
Fr. Arthur Ntembula
In a momentous announcement made Tuesday, June 18, Pope Francis has elevated Ndola Diocese to the status of an Ecclesiastical Province within the Catholic Church in Zambia, thus establishing it as an Archdiocese.
Archbishop Benjamin Phiri who until now served as the Ordinary of Ndola Diocese, will now have increased administrative and pastoral responsibilities as he assumes the role of Archbishop, the first Metropolitan Archbishop of the Province.
The position entails overseeing other suffragan dioceses within the province which include Kabwe and Solwezi. Until this development, the three dioceses (Ndola, Kabwe, Solwezi) fell under the jurisdiction of the Ecclesiastical Province of Lusaka.
With the establishment of Ndola as a new province, Zambia now boasts of three distinct ecclesiastical provinces: Lusaka, Kasama, and Ndola, and this development signifies the growing importance of the Catholic Church in Ndola and Zambia at large.
