Pope Francis has appointed Nigerian-born Archbishop Nwachukwu as the Secretary, of Dicastery for Evangelization.
Born May 10, 1960, Archbishop Nwachukwu was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Umuahia, in Nigeria, on 17 June 1984, and was later incardinated into the Diocese of Aba on April 2, 1990.
In 2012, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him as the Apostolic Nuncio to Nicaragua, and made him the Titular Archbishop of Acquaviva.
He later served in the Antilles from 2017 as the Apostolic Nuncio to Trinidad and Tobago, as well as to Barbados, Dominica, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and Grenadines, and Guyana.
Archbishop Nwachukwu also took on the role of Apostolic Nuncio to Saint Lucia, Grenada, Bahamas, Suriname, and Belize in 2018.
In an exclusive discussion with Anastasia Uchenna, Personal Assistant to the Archbishop , Oliver Ejeh said that by the appointment, Archbishop Fortunatus Can be likened to the 4th in ranking to Pope Francis. This Makes him a pro-prefect (someone who can sit in for the Pope because he works and reports directly to him).
Archbishop Fortunatus is the first Black man to occupy the position.
The new Secretary, Dicastery of Evangelization, hails from Isialangwa North LGA of Abia state, and is currently the Vatican Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, World trade organization and other international organizations.
Archbishop Fortunatus has written many books and is fluent in seven languages; English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Arabic and modern Hebrew.
Effective May 15th, 2023, he becomes the brain behind appointments of new bishops, creation of new Diocese and other important roles in the Catholic Church worldwide.