Msgr. Jose Avellino Bettencourt Named Bishop, Apostolic Nuncio

This morning in Rome it was announced in Rome that Pope Francis had named Msgr. Jose Bettencourt, a priest of the Archdiocese of Ottawa Titular Bishop of Cittanova, an ancient see in Calabria and an Apostolic Nuncio.

Born in the Azores on May 23, 1962, Jose Bettencourt emigrated at a young age to Canada with his family. His widowed mother and his younger brother’s family live near the church of Senhor Santo Cristo, Ottawa’s Portuguese-language parish.

Msgr. Bettencourt (left) at his home parish, Senhor Santo Cristo

Archbishop Marcel Gervais ordained him a priest on May 29, 1993 after his studies at the University of Ottawa and St. Paul’s University. Father Bettencourt served briefly in his home parish and Holy Redeemer Parish, Kanata before entering the diplomatic service in 1999, gaining a doctoral degree in Canon Law from the Pontifical Gregorian University.

Father Bettencourt served at the Apostolic Nunciature to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and then moved to the Secretariat of State of the Holy See. Since 2003 he has been Chaplain of His Holiness.

On 14 November 2012, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Msgr. Bettencourt Head of Protocol at the Secretariat of State, with responsibility for contacts with embassies accredited to the Holy See and to the central Vatican authority.

Pope Francis will preside at Archbishop-elect Bettencourt’s episcopal ordination in St. Peter’s Vatican Basilica on March 19, the Solemnity of St. Joseph.

Ad multos et faustissimos annos!