Thomas Luke Msusa, S.M.M. (born 2 February 1962) is archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Blantyre in

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeas ...

. He is a convert to the Catholic Church from Islam.

Life

He is the son of a Muslim imam and at the age of seven left his village to study. He converted to the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and was baptized at the age of twelve and after this entered the

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy ...

, facing opposition of his family due to his conversion. Upon his return, he was rejected by his family except his uncle, himself a convert to the Catholic Church. On 3 August 1996, Msusa was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

to priesthood in the

Company of Mary The Missionaries of the Company of Mary is a missionary religious congregation within the Catholic Church. The community was founded by Saint Louis de Montfort in 1705 with the recruitment of his first missionary disciple, Mathurin Rangeard. The co ...

. His appointment as Catholic bishop was on 19 December 2003 by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

and on 17 April 2004 was ordained bishop to the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Zomba The Roman Catholic Diocese of Zomba ( la, Zombaën(sis)) is a diocese located in the city of Zomba in the Ecclesiastical province of Blantyre in Malawi. History * May 15, 1952: Established as Apostolic Vicariate of Zomba from the Apostolic Vica ...

Orlando Antonini Orlando Antonini (born 15 October 1944) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See from 1980 to 2015, as an archbishop and apostolic nuncio from 1999 to 2015. Biography Orlando Antonini wa ...

, with the principal co-consecrators being Tarcisius Gervazio Ziyaye, Archbishop of Blantyre, and

Allan Chamgwera Allan may refer to: People * Allan (name), a given name and surname, including list of people and characters with this name * Allan (footballer, born 1984) (Allan Barreto da Silva), Brazilian football striker * Allan (footballer, born 1989) (Al ...

, bishop emeritus of Zomba. After his ordination to the episcopate, his father asked him to enter himself also within the Catholic Church and

Monsignor Monsignor (; it, monsignore ) is an honorific form of address or title for certain male clergy members, usually members of the Roman Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" ca ...

Msusa then baptised him in 2006 after he attended a catechetical instruction. On 21 November 2013 he was appointed to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Blantyre and on 8 February 2014 was installed on the archbishopric. In 2015, he was appointed vice president of the association of eight members of the Episcopal Conferences of Eastern Africa and participated in the Fourteenth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops.

References

External links

* http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bmsusa.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Msusa, Thomas Luke 1962 births Living people Converts to Roman Catholicism from Islam Malawian former Muslims Malawian Roman Catholic archbishops Roman Catholic bishops of Zomba Roman Catholic archbishops of Blantyre