Cardinal Stephen Brislin New Archbishop of Jo’burg

Cardinal Stephen Brislin, 68, has been appointed the new archbishop of Johannesburg, succeeding retiring Archbishop Buti Tlhagale.

The announcement of the resignation of Archbishop Tlhagale, 76, and the appointment Cardinal Brislin, currently archbishop of Cape Town, was made in Rome today, October 28, at 13:00 South African time.

Archbishop Tlhagale will remain apostolic administrator of the archdiocese of Johannesburg until his successor takes possession.

In terms of Canon 418 §1, the newly appointed archbishop must take possession of his new archdiocese within two months of the announcement, meaning that Cardinal Brislin will be installed before the end of the year.

Cardinal Brislin has headed the archdiocese of Caper Town since his appointment in December 2009. He had previously served as bishop of his home diocese of Kroonstad in the Free State, having been appointed in October 2006 and ordained a bishop on January 28, 2007. Southern Cross editor, Gunther Simmermacher, gave a personal reflection at the time of his election as cardinal and we conducted an in-depth interview with him in September 2023.

Born on September 24, 1956 in Welkom, into a family of Scottish and Irish ancestry, Brislin studied psychology at the University of Cape Town, and philosophy at St John Vianney Seminary in Pretoria. He also studied theology at the Missionary Institute of Mill Hill in London, and earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Louvain in Belgium.

Cardinal Brislin was ordained to the priesthood for the diocese of Kroonstad on November 19, 1983.

Pope Francis awarded Cardinal Brislin the red hat on September 30 last year.

Cardinal Brislin served two successive terms as president of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference, from 2013 to 2019. He has been elected to serve a third term starting in January 2025.

No successor as archbishop of Cape Town has been named.