Provincial Superior of OMI in Poland Appointed Bishop for Madagascar’s Fenoarivo Atsinanana Diocese

Antananarivo, 17 April, 2025 / 8:52 PM

Pope Francis has appointed the Provincial Superior of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) in Poland Bishop for Fenoarivo Atsinanana Catholic Diocese in Madagascar.

The administrative changes in the Malagasy Episcopal See with the appointment of Mons. Marek Ochlak were made public on Thursday, April 17 in a Holy See Press Office publication.

Fenoarivo Atsinanana became vacant in October 2024 following the transfer of Bishop Marcellin Randriamamonjy to the Catholic Diocese of Farafangana.

Désiré Cardinal Tsarahazana of the Catholic Archdiocese of Toamasina, who served as the first Local Ordinary of Fenoarivo Atsinanana Diocese, has been overseeing the Malagasy Episcopal See as Apostolic Administrator.

Born in March 1966 in Nowe Miasto Lubawskie in Poland’s Catholic Diocese of Toruń, Mons. Ochlakt was ordained OMI Priest in 1992, having taken his Perpetual Vows in 1990.

As a Priest, the Bishop-elect has served in various capacities, including Parish Vicar of S.. Eugène de Mazenod in Kędzierzyn-Koźle, Poland.

From 1995-2002, he ministered in the Metropolitan See of Toamasina in Madagascar in the district of Marolambo brousse.

Mons. Ochlak also served as Coordinator for the Apostleship of the Sea, Parish Priest of Notre-Dame de Lourdes, and Assistant in the Council of the O.M.I. Delegation in Madagascar.

The OMI member also served as Superior of the O.M.I. Delegation in Madagascar, Father in charge of Befasy Parish of Diocese of Morondava, and Coordinator of missions in the Province of Poland. 

Since January 2023, he has been serving as OMI Provincial Superior in Poland.

Once Consecrated Bishop, Mons. Ochlak will become the third Local Ordinary of the Malagasy Diocese that measures 25,000 km² with an estimated population of 432,923 Catholics, representing 26.6 percent of the total population, according to 2023 statistics.

Established in October 2000, Fenoarivo Atsinanana is part of the Ecclesiastical Province of Toamasina.