The Catholic Pontiff, Pope Francis, has appointed the Catholic Bishop of Osogbo Diocese, Rt. Rev. Dr. Gabriel Ojeleke Abegunrin, as the new Catholic Archbishop of Ibadan Archdiocese.
Abegunrin, from Iwere-Ile in Oyo state, who was ordained a priest in 1979 and consecrated a bishop in 1995 in Osogbo, replaces Archbishop Felix Alaba Job, who has just retired after attaining the mandatory Canonical age of 75.
Abegunrin, a doctorate degree holder of the Canon Law, attended the Our Lady and St. Kizito’s Catholic Minor Seminary, Ede in Osun State, from 1967 to 1971 before he proceeded to the SS Peter and Paul Major Seminary, Bodija, Ibadan.
While in the seminary, he played football and volleyball as well as engaged in athletics and boxing.
He speaks Yoruba, English, French, German and Italian languages.
As the archbishop of the Metropolitan Province of Ibadan, Abegunrin, in his mid-sixties, presides over affairs of five other dioceses of Oyo, Ekiti, Ondo, Osogbo and Ilorin.
The Pope will announce a new bishop for Osogbo Diocese, a position being vacated by Abegunrin.
