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By Inés San Martín, Crux, Jan 18, 2021

ROME BUREAU CHIEF

ROSARIO, Argentina — A South African who’d been tapped by Pope Francis to replace Cardinal Wilfried Napier as archbishop of Durban died on Sunday of COVID-19.

Archbishop Abel Gabuza was appointed by Francis as coadjutor of Durban in Dec. 2018, and had been in the hospital at least since Jan. 10, when Napier shared on Twitter that his coadjutor had tested positive for COVID-19 and was in the ICU.

“The Archbishop had not been with us in Durban long – just short of two years – but in that time we came to recognize him as a gentle, caring and warm-hearted pastor,” Napier said in a statement released on Sunday morning, soon after Gabuza’s death. “Through his gentleness, caring and warmth, he made an immediate impact on everyone who was privileged to make his acquaintance. That’s an added reason why his passing is such a tremendous loss to us and the entire Church in Southern Africa.” …

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