Félicien Ntambue Kasembe, CICM (born 8 September 1970) is a Congolese prelate of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and a member of the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary who has been metropolitan archbishop of

Kananga Kananga, formerly known as Luluabourg or Luluaburg, is the capital Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, city of the Kasai-Central, Kasai-Central Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and was the capital of the former Kasaï ...

since May 2024. He was bishop of Kabinda from 2020 to 2024. Before he became a priest in 2001, he did

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

work in

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Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

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, and

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Biography

Ntambue Kasembe was born in

Kabinda Kabinda is the capital Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, city of Lomami Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Projected to be the second fastest growing African continent city between 2020 and 2025, with a 6.37% growt ...

, in the province of

Lomami Lomami may refer to: * Lomami River, a river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo * Lomami Province, a province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo * Lomami Province (former), a former province of Zaire {{Disambig ...

, on 8 September 1970. He graduated with a state diploma in 1988, studying biology and chemistry. He became a novice of the

Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary The CICM Missionaries, officially known as the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary () and often abbreviated as C.I.C.M, is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for men established in 1862 by the Belgian Cathol ...

(the Scheut Missionaries) in the Mbudi neighborhood of Kinshasa in 1989 and studied philosophy at the Seminary of St. Peter Canisius for three years beginning in 1990. Between 1993 and 1996, he undertook an internship as a

and

. He then made his final vows as a Scheut Missionary. He studied theology in the

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and

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from 1996 until 2001. On 12 August 2001, Ntambue was ordained a priest in Kabinda. After ordination, Ntambue's first pastoral assignment was as vicar of St. Eugène church in Menkao,

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ), formerly named Léopoldville from 1881–1966 (), is the Capital city, capital and Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kinshasa is one of the world's fastest-grow ...

, where he served for two years and became pastor. He then worked for his order as Provincial Secretary and Rector of Scheutists in Kinshasa from 2003 to 2006 and then as Director of the Pedagogical Research Center in Kinshasa and Secretary of the Scheutists' Provincial Commission for Finance from 2003 to 2007. He then returned to academic pursuits and earned a bachelor's degree in civil law from the Notre Dame de la Paix University in Namur in 2009, a master's in civil law from the Catholic University of Louvain-la-Neuve and master's in human rights at the Saint Louis Faculty of Law in Brussels in 2011. Returning to Kinshasa, he was Provincial Councilor of the CICM in Kinshasa from 2013 to 2016. The next year he was the African Delegate on the committee preparing for the CICM General Chapter and then the delegate of the Kinshasa Province to that meeting 2017. From 2017 to 2020 Ntambue was one of the General Councillors of the CICM Missionaries, based in Rome. Ntambue was appointed Bishop of Kabinda on 23 July 2020 by

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

. On 27 September 2020, he received his episcopal consecration from Ernest Ngboko Ngombe, Archbishop of Mbandaka-Bikoro and was installed as bishop. On 21 December 2022 he was appointed apostolic administrator of the archdiocese of Kananga. On 19 March 2024, Pope Francis named him archbishop of Kananga. He was installed there on 19 May.

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ntambue Kasembe, Felicien 1970 births 20th-century Roman Catholic priests 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops Bishops appointed by Pope Francis 21st-century Roman Catholic priests Living people People from Lomami Province