AFRICA/CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC- Appointment of the Archbishop of Bangui

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - The Holy Father Benedict XVI on May 14, 2012 appointed Rev. Fr. Dieudonné Nzapalainga, C.S.S.p., Apostolic Administrator of the same Archdiocese as Archbishop of Bangui (Central African Republic).
Fr. Dieudonné Nzapalainga, C.S.Sp., was born on March 14, 1967 in Mbomou, in the Diocese of Bangassou. After primary school, he entered the Saint Louis Minor Seminary in Bangassou and then went to the Major Seminary of Philosophy Saints Apôtres in Otélé, Cameroon, before continuing his studies at the Spiritan Daniel Brottier Major Seminary, in Libreville, Gabon. He professed his first vows in the Congregation of the Spiritan Fathers on September 8, 1993 and his final vows on September 6, 1997. He was ordained priest on 9 August 1998. He later obtained a degree in Theology at the Centre Sèvres of the Jesuit Fathers, in France, but was soon called to go to the Central African Republic from his Institute to hold the position of Regional Superior. After his priestly Ordination he has held the following positions: 1998-2005: Chaplain of the orphans of the Foundation d'Auteuil (France) and Assistant priest (St Jerome/Marseille, France), 2005-2009: Regional Superior of the Spiritan Fathers (Central Africa) and Priest in Bangui, 2008-2009: President of the Conference of Major Superiors of Central Africa; since 2009: Apostolic Administrator of Bangui.
The Archdiocese of Bangui, erected in 1955, has an area of 38,342 square kilometers and a population of 1,043,000 inhabitants, of whom 246,657 are Catholics. There are 25 parishes, 104 priests (54 diocesan and 4 fidei donum and 46 religious), 9 religious brothers, 115 nuns and 20 seminarians. (SL) (Agenzia Fides 15/5/2012)