On 2 February 2012, the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple, the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI named Sulpician Father Timothée BODIKA MANSIYAI, pss, rector of the Blessed John XXIII Seminary in Kinshasa and Fourth Consultor of the General Council of the Society of Saint Sulpice, as an auxiliary bishop of Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo). He was one of two auxiliary bishops named for Kinshasa the same day, the second being Father Sebastien MUYENGO MULOMBE, who is currently a student at the University of Leuven.

Bishop-elect Bodika with the other three consultors of the General Council

This appointment is a great honor for Father Bodika and the Society of Saint Sulpice.

Bishop-elect Bodika, flanked by Fr. Jaime Mora, pss, member of the General council, and Fr. Jacques D’Arcy, pss, Provincial of Canada, during a meeting of the General Council and Provincials in Menlo Park, CA, in 2010

Father Bodika was born in Kinshasa 1 January 1962, and ordained a priest for that Archdiocese in 1990. He holds a doctorate in moral theology from the Catholic Institute in Toulouse and recently served as rector of the minor seminary, St. Kaggwa (2007-2008), and then the major seminary, Blessed John XXIII, since 2010.

In July 2008 Father Bodika became the first African Sulpician to be elected to the General Council of the Sulpicians, on which he serves as fourth consultor. His pastoral experience includes having served as a pastor, as a spiritual director in the seminary, and as a chaplain to a leper colony.

Bishop-elect Bodika, Fr. Bernard Pitaud, pss, provincial of France, Fr. D’Arcy, and other members of the Council, December 2010

With this appointment, Bishop-elect Bodika becomes the second African Sulpician bishop, following in the footsteps of Mgr José MOKO EKANGA, pss, who was named Bishop of Idiofa in the Congo (DRC) in 2009.

Father Bodiak’s episcopal ordination is set for 15 April 2012 in Kinshasa. The Society of Saint Sulpice warmly congratulates Bishop-elect Bodika and wishes him every blessing in his new ministry.