Lagos — The Catholic pontiff, Pope Benedict XVI, has named Nigerian Monsignor For-tunatus Nwachukwu as the Head of Protocol at the Vatican Secretariat of State.

The Vatican Press Office announced the appointment which took effect immediately.

Monsignor Fortunatus Nwachukwu is a priest of the Catholic Diocese of Aba.

He was born in Ntigha in Isiala Ngwa North Local Government Area of Abia State, Nigeria on May 10, 1960.

He was ordained to the Roman Catholic priesthood on June 17, 1984 after completing his priestly training, which included Bachelor's degree in Philosophy and Theology at Bigard Memorial Seminary (now St. Joseph's Major Seminary), Ikot Ekpene, and Bigard Memorial Seminary, Enugu respectively.

A Catholic priest, Fr. Matthew Ugochukwu Ihu-oma, who made additional information available to THISDAY from Canada last night disclosed that immediately following his priestly ordination, the young Fortunatus was thrown into the challenges of priestly ministry and brought his "extraordinary God-given talents" to bear on the enormous responsibilities that could have overwhelmed many his age.

In his first two years as a priest, he was saddled with the task of combining several pastoral and academic assignments concurrently.

He served as the Dean, then Vice Rector at the Immaculate Conception Seminary, Umuahia, Parish Adm-inistrator of the St. Anna's Catholic Parish, Ibeku-Umuahia, as well as Students' Chaplain at the then College of Agriculture Umudike and the Umudike Campus of Alvan-Ikoku College of Education.

In 1986, he was sent to Europe for a specialization in Biblical Studies.

He studied at the Pontifical Biblical Institute, the St Thomas Aquinas University, the Pontifical Urbaniana University, and the Pontifical Ecclesiastical (Dipl-omatic) Academy, all in Rome.