In a warm letter of appreciation, Jordan’s Latin Bishop, Jamal, Daibes agrees to the request by His Eminence Pope Francis to head the Catholic Church’s Djibouti church and to be an apostolic administrator for Catholics in Somalia.

“This appointment is a sign of the Pope’s confidence in the Latin Patriarchate and its clergy, who have always shown their willingness to serve different churches outside the geographical framework of the Patriarchate”

In the letter to Cardinal Pizabella, fellow priests, and Christians of Jordan, Bishop Jama Dubais concludes that he looks forward to serving the Lord in Africa and hopes that this mission will add to his experience. “My new mission will give me additional experience and a new challenge. I embark on this service relying on God’s grace and your prayers, for the greater glory of God and the salvation of souls.”

Below is the full text of the letter and a copy of the Arabic version of the letter is also posted

Your Eminence, H.B. Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa,

Dear Brothers Bishops and Priests,

My Brothers in the Christian Churches of Jordan,

Dear faithful children, and sons of Jordan,

After I received the request of His Holiness Pope Francis to head the diocese of the State of Djibouti and be the Apostolic Administrator of the Church of Mogadishu in Somalia, I, in the spirit of obedience to the successor of Saint Peter and as a son of the Holy Catholic Church, to whose service I have dedicated my life, have freely accepted this request. This appointment is a sign of the Pope’s confidence in the Latin Patriarchate and its clergy, who have always shown their willingness to serve different churches outside the geographical framework of the Patriarchate, as has happened more than once previously.

As I thank His Beatitude, the Patriarch, for his support and assistance over the past years, and the priests and bishops of the Latin Patriarchate for their love, I affirm that I will remain a son of the Latin Patriarchate and the Church of the Holy Land, through which my vocation to serve the people of God arose.

My fellow believers in our Holy Church and its various ecclesiastical families, I thank you for your love and cooperation, and for always making me feel that I am one of you. I have been honored to serve you with joy and love, through the gifts and talents God has given me. I ask God to bless you and to bear in you the good fruit of the Spirit.

After more than two years of my presence as a Patriarchal Vicar in Jordan, which is dear to my heart, I have confirmed – beyond a shadow of a doubt – that our Church is one in the various places where the Latin Patriarchate is located, and that this country unites its people in one harmonious family, under the leadership of His Majesty King Abdullah bin Al-Hussein. I ask God to keep this country safe and prosperous and to bless all its residents.

Dear brothers and sisters,

My new mission will give me additional experience and a new challenge. I embark on this service relying on God’s grace and your prayers, for the greater glory of God and the salvation of souls.

With love,

+ Bishop Jamal Daibes