GSE Alumnus Appointed Bishop of Ondo, Nigeria

A Graduate School of Education (GSE) alumnus has been appointed bishop of the Diocese of Ondo in western Nigeria.

Father Jude Arogundade Photo courtesy of Fordham’s Graduate School of Education

Pope Benedict XVI announced the appointment of Father Jude Arogundade (GSE ’05) to the post on Feb. 15. Father Arogundade has been serving as administrator of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Elmsford, N.Y., since 2005.

Father Arogundade was born in Oka-Akoko, Nigeria, in 1961 and ordained a priest in 1990. He came to the United States in 1997 to study at Fordham, earning a master’s degree in religious education. In 2005, he earned a doctoral degree in education administration, also at Fordham.

Bishop-Designate Arogundade will succeed Bishop Francis Alonge, who in March turns 75, the age at which bishops are required by church law to submit their resignations to the Pope. He has held the bishopric in Ondo since 1976.

The diocese has a population of about 3,225,200, of which 265,000 are Catholics, according to the diocesan website. It contains 37 parishes and Mass centers and numbers more than 76 priests.