Bishop Sipuka appointed to Cape Town, succeeding Cardinal Brislin

January 10, 2026

Pope Leo XIV has named Bishop Sithembele Anton Sipuka of Umtata, South Africa, as the new archbishop of Cape Town, the nation’s legislative capital.

Bishop Sipuka succeeds Cardinal Stephen Brislin, whom Pope Francis transferred to Johannesburg (a larger see) in 2024.

Respected by his confrères in his country and throughout Africa, Bishop Sipuka was elected and then re-elected president of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (2019-2024). He was also elected first vice president of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (2019-2022) after serving as second vice president.

Born in 1960 and ordained to the priesthood in 1988, Sipuka was appointed bishop of Umtata, also known as Mthatha, in 2008. Vatican News reported that Bishop Sipuka is “known for his commitment to justice, peace, dialogue, and ethical leadership.” The Pillar reported:

Despite being a soft-spoken and unshowy figure, he emerged as a vigorous advocate of peace, not only in southern Africa but also in the Holy Land. He was also quick to embrace synodality, the watchword of the Francis pontificate, but was able to articulate its principles without becoming bogged down in jargon.

Two of Bishop Sipuka’s four predecessors in Cape Town were named cardinals: Archbishop Owen McCann, created a cardinal by Pope St. Paul VI in 1965, and Archbishop Brislin, by Pope Francis in 2023.

The Archdiocese of Cape Town has 284,769 Catholics, 74 parishes, 63 diocesan priests, 64 religious-order priests, 7 brothers, and 127 sisters, according to the current (2025) edition of the Annuario Ponitificio. In 2024, it had 1,387 baptisms and one priestly ordination. The territory in which the archdiocese is located comprises 11,927 square miles (roughly the size of Maryland) and is only 5.5% Catholic.

 

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Further information:

• Resignations and Appointments, 09.01.2026 (Holy See Press Office, 1/9/26)
• Bishop Sithembele Anton Sipuka appointed Archbishop of Cape Town (Vatican News, 1/9/26)
• The rise of Bishop Sipuka (L'Osservatore Romano, 1/9/26)