BREAKING: Pope Appoints Ugorji As Catholic Archbishop Of Owerri

Pope Francis, has appointed Most Revd (Dr.) Lucius Ugorji, as the Catholic Archbishop of Owerri in Imo State,Vanguard reports.

Pope Francis, who was represented by Apostolic Nuncio to Nigeria, His Grace, Archbishop Antonio Guido Filipazzi, made the announcement on Sunday in Abuja, at the ongoing opening ceremony of the first plenary meeting of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria in 2022.

Ugorji takes over from His Grace, Archbishop Anthony l Obinna who has since March 26 1994 occupied the position.

Until his appointment, Ugorji was the Bishop of Umuahia and former Apostolic Administrator of the Ahiara diocese.

The new Archbishop of Owerri was born in January 13, 1952. He was first ordained a priest at the age of 25 and was appointed a Bishop by Pope John Paul II when he was 38 years old.

Barely three months ago, he resigned his position as chairman, Governing Council of Imo State University, Owerri, to the shock of many stakeholders.

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Vanguard reports that he reportedly approached Governor Hope Uzodinma on several occasions on the proper funding of the University with the request that the State-owned tertiary institution cannot run or fund itself.

Ugorji was said to have claimed that he could not understand how Uzodinma expected him to preside over an underfunded and stagnant University as a cleric.

The man of God also observed that IMSU was not being run as an institution of higher learning deserving of Imo State University status and that in order to avoid dabbling into any mess, he opted to resign.