By Paschal Norbert
BRAZZAVILLE, MAY 30, 2025 (CISA) – Pope Leo XIV has appointed the Very Rev Fr Brice Armand Ibombo, vice rector of the Emile Cardinal Biayenda National Theological Major Seminary in Brazzaville, as the new bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Ouesso in the Republic of the Congo.
The announcement was made on May 28 by the Holy See Press Office, confirming that Fr Ibombo, a priest of the Catholic Diocese of Gamboma, will succeed in leading the diocese located in the northern part of the country.
Born on November 23, 1973, in Abala, Catholic Diocese of Gamboma, Bishop-elect Ibombo began his formation in philosophy at the Msgr. Georges-Firmin Singha Philosophical Major Seminary in Brazzaville. He later studied theology at the major seminary of Concordia-Pordenone in Italy, before proceeding to the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, where he obtained a doctorate in Church history.
He was ordained a priest on August 28, 2004, at Saint François Xavier Parish in Boundji. Following his ordination, he served as parish vicar at the Cathedral of Santo Stefano Protomartire in Concordia Sagittaria, Italy (2004-2010), and later as parish administrator of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Caraffa del Bianco (2010-2013).
In 2013, Fr Ibombo returned to the Republic of the Congo and was appointed Secretary General of the Episcopal Conference of Congo (CEB) , a position he held for ten years. He also served as parish cooperator at Notre-Dame des Victoires in Ouenzé, Brazzaville, and has lectured in the Department of History at Marien Ngouabi University since 2014.
In 2019, he was named a member of the College of Consultors of the Catholic Diocese of Gamboma and was appointed vice rector of the Emile Cardinal Biayenda National Theological Major Seminary in 2024.
The Catholic Diocese of Ouesso, erected in 1983, is situated in the northern part of the Republic of the Congo and covers a vast territory with a significant missionary history and cultural diversity.
