Associated Press

March 22, 1997

Pope Names New Zaire Town Bishop

VATICAN CITY (AP) -- Pope John Paul II has named a native bishop to take the place of the Bukavu, Zaire, archbishop who was killed in an attack last year.

The Vatican said Saturday that the pope chose Monsignor Emmanuel Kataliko, who has been serving as bishop in Butembo-Beni, the diocese of his birth.

Bukavu Archbishop Christophe Munzihirwa Mwene Ngabo, the leader of Roman Catholics in eastern Zaire, was killed during an armed attack on that city in October, the Vatican said at the time.

The Bukavu area, near Burundi and Rwanda, was plunged into chaos amid fighting between ethnic Tutsi rebels native to Zaire and Zairian troops.

About half of Zaire's population of 44 million is Roman Catholic.

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