Pope Francis has appointed the Reverend Father Peter Kayode Odetoyinbo as the new Roman Catholic Bishop of Abeokuta Diocese.

The position became vacant about two years ago when the former occupant, Archbishop Alfred Adewale Martins, was moved to Lagos from the Abeokuta diocese as Lagos Catholic Archbishop.

Fr. Odetoyinbo was born in Ibadan in 1964 and ordained a priest in October 1989 for the Ibadan Archdiocese.

He holds licentiate and doctorate in History of the Church from the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, and has served in a numbero f pastoral and and academic roles.

He was a lecturer at a minor seminary, parish priest at St. Patrick and St. Ignatius of Loyola as well as resident priest in St. Mary’s Cathedral of Ibadan.

He was a priest of the Church of the Assumption at Bodija, Ibadan, as well as a lecturer in the History of the Church at Ss Peter and Paul Major Seminary in Ibadan and the Dominican Institute.

He is the president of the Ibadan Arcdiocesan priests’ Association and secretary of the Archdiocesan priests of all Yorubaland.

He is currently the Vicar-General of the Archdiocese of Ibadan.

One of his parishioners at the Church of Assumption in Bodija, Patrick Iroro, a chartered accountant, described Monsignor Odetoyinbo as a “very sociable, easy-going but deeply religious Catholic priest.”

“He loves the flock of Christ and devotes time for their growth in faith. He is highly intelligent but very simple.”

“He is certainly a very good choice”.

Abeokuta Diocese, carved out of Lagos Archdiocese in 1997, has 61 priests ad 40 religious (including reverend brothers and sisters).

The diocese has more than 70,000 Catholic faithfuls spread into 35 parishes.

Monsignor Odetoyinbo’s consecration (formal installation) in Abeokuta will be announced shortly.