AFRICA/MADAGASCAR - Bishop of Morondava resigns, successor appointed

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - The Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI on 26 February 2010, accepted the renunciation of the pastoral government of the Diocese of Morondava (Madagascar) presented by Bishop Donald Pelletier, MS, in conformity with the Code of Canon Law, canon 401 § 1. The Holy Father appointed as Bishop of Morondava (Madagascar), Fr. Marie Fabien Raharilamboniaina, OCD, Superior General of the Carmelite Fathers in Madagascar and the Indian Ocean.
Fr. Fabien Raharilamboniaina Marie, OCD, was born January 20, 1968 at Ambohijanahary, Diocese of Ambatondrazaka. He entered the Discalced Carmelites at a young age. After the primary and secondary schools, he studied Philosophy and Theology at Ambatoroka, at the Institut Catholique de Madagascar [ICM]. He made his religious profession on September 8, 1990 and was ordained priest on July 5, 1997. After ordination he held the following positions: 1997-1999 assistant priest of the Parish of St. Paul, in Phoenix (Mauritius), transferred to La Reunion to found a house of Carmelites on that island. Since 2005, he has been the Provincial Superior of the Carmelites of Madagascar and the Indian Ocean.
The Diocese of Morondava (1955), suffragan of the Archdiocese of Toliara, has an area of 43,640 sq km and a population of 490,000 million inhabitants, of which 43,640 are Catholics. There are 6 parishes, 30 priests (7 diocesan and 27 religious), 78 religious sisters, and 19 major seminarians. (SL) (Agenzia Fides 26/02/2010)