WELCOME TO POPE LEO’S HOME IN CAMEROON AND EQUATORIAL GUINEA

THE APOSTOLIC NUNCIATURE IN YAOUNDE, CAMEROON

The apostolic nunciature in Cameroon, located in Yaounde, is the Embassy of the Holy See, the Pope’s diplomatic mission responsible for bilateral relations with the State of Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea. It is both an ecclesiastic and a civil institution.

MEET THE CURRENT APOSTOLIC NUNCIO MGR JOSÉ AVELINO BETTENCOURT

Archbishop José Avelino Bettencourt was appointed as the Apostolic Nuncio to Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea by Pope Francis on August 30, 2023.

He previously served as Apostolic Nuncio to Georgia and Armenia (2018-2023).

On February 26, 2018, he was named titular Archbishop of Aemonensis Seu Civitatis Novae (Cittanova) and was appointed to the Office of Apostolic Nuncio by His Holiness Pope Francis. He was consecrated archbishop by His Holiness Pope Francis, in St. Peters Basilica in Rome on March 19, 2018, on the feast day of St. Joseph.

On November 14, 2012, His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, appointed then Mgr. Bettencourt, as Chief of Protocol of the Holy See’s Secretariat of State.

In 2002 Fr. Bettencourt was appointed an official to the Section for Relations with States in the Secretariat of State at the Vatican.

He entered the Holy See’s diplomatic service in 1999, serving in the Apostolic Nunciature of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

On May 29, 1993, then Deacon José Avelino Bettencourt was ordained as a priest by the Most Reverend Marcel Gervais, Archbishop of Ottawa, Canada.

Archbishop Bettencourt holds a doctorate in Canon Law from the Pontifical Gregorian University (Rome) and is a graduate of the Pontifical Ecclesiastic Academy (Rome) for Holy See diplomats; a Bachelor of Theology degree from the University of St. Paul (Ottawa); a Bachelor of Arts with Honours degree from the University of Ottawa (Ottawa).

Born in Velas, St. Jorge, Azores, Portugal, he is from the clergy of the Archdiocese of Ottawa, Canada, and has been in the service of the Roman Pontiff and the Holy See.

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” (1 Cor. 13:13).

Granted by the Canadian Heraldic Authority, August 15, 2019