By Arnold Neliba
VATICAN CITY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2023 (CISA)-Pope Francis has appointed Archbishop José Avelino Bettencourt as the new apostolic nuncio to Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea.
Until his appointment on August 30, Archbishop Bettencourt was the apostolic nuncio to Georgia and Armenia, a position he has held since March 2018.
Born on May 23, 1962, in Velas in the Catholic Diocese of Angra, Portugal, the nuncio-elect was ordained priest of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada on May 29, 1993.
He joined the Holy See’s diplomatic service in 1999, serving in the nunciature of the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC. He was later called back to work at the Vatican Secretariat of State in 2012.
On February 26, 2018, he was appointed an apostolic nuncio and on March 1 appointed to Armenia. A week later he was appointed to double up as nuncio to Georgia.
The 61-year-old holds degrees in Literature and Theology, from the University of Ottawa and a doctorate in Canon Law from the Pontifical Gregorian University.
