Pope Leo XIV has appointed the Bishop of the Diocese of Sokoto Hassan Kukah and Dr. Emmanuel Okechukwu, to top positions in the Vatican City.

The Nigerian priest will serve as a Member of the Council of the Dicastery for Integral Human Development, which will enable him to contribute to shaping Catholic Church’s teachings and stance on key global issues like the environment, human rights, migration and human development.

Okechukwu is to serve as Director of Health Services at the Catholic Secretariat.

A statement by Pascal Salifu, a priest and director of communications, Diocese of Sokoto, said Kukah was notified of his appointment in a letter addressed to him by the Pope.

The letter was signed by the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Peter Parolin, according to the statement.

By his appointment, Kukah “joins other prominent Cardinals, Archbishops and Bishops from all over the world to serve a five-year term on the council,” the statement said.

The Dicastery deals with the key thematic issues around the Catholic Church’s Social Teachings covering the environment, human rights, migration, human development, social ethics, among others.

He is to serve in the council alongside the Cardinal Archbishop of Washington, Walter McElroy; Cardinal Matteo Zuppi of Bologna, Cardinal Conrad Krajewski of Poland, Archbishop Fulgence Mugalu of Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo. Rev. Kukah was first appointed to the Council in 2022 when it was reconstituted by Pope Francis.

Reacting to his appointment, Kukah said he is humbled by the appointment and thanked the Pope for giving him an opportunity to serve the Church.

He said the Dicastery fits perfectly into his areas of research and pastoral interest and looks forward to contributing to helping to infuse the Catholic ethos into public life in a world that has become severely wounded by human greed.

The council also announced the appointment of Dr. Emmanuel Okechukwu, Director of Health Services at the Catholic Secretariat, to serve along with Priests, Religious and the Laity, who are all expected to bring their expertise into the work of the Council.