Following the death on New Year’s Day in 2022 of Most Rev. Paul Olawoore, Bishop of Ilorin (2018-2022) aged 60, Pope Francis on Friday appointed a substantive new Bishop of Ilorin in the person of Very Rev. Fr. Anselm Pendo Lawani, until now Diocesan Administrator of Ilorin.
Monsignor Anselm Pendo Lawani was born on 12 September 1970 in Igarra, Edo State in Nigeria. He was ordained as a priest on 15 August 2000 for the clergy of the Diocese of Ilorin. After attending Saints Peter and Paul Major Seminary in Bodija, Ibadan, he earned his Master of Divinity degree from the University of Saint Mary of the Lake in Chicago, Illinois (U.S.A.).
He has held the following positions: Parish Vicar at St. Joseph in Osi (2000-2001); Assistant Parish Priest at Holy Angels in Chicago (2001-2005); Parish Administrator at Holy Angels in Chicago (2006); parish priest of St. Bartholomew in Kaiama (2006); parish priest of St. Anthony in Fate (2006-2010); Director of Vocations of the Diocese of Ilorin (2008-2022); since 2008, Member of the College of Consultors of the Diocese of Ilorin; parish priest of St. Anthony in Fate (2010-2012); parish priest of St. Cyprian in Offa/Erin-Ile (2012-2017); Dean of Ilorin Deanery (2017-2023); since 2017 until now, Parish Administrator of St. Joseph Cathedral, Ilorin; since 2022, Diocesan Administrator of Ilorin.
