Auxiliary Bishop of Guinea's Kankan Diocese Appointed Apostolic Administrator

Conakry, 11 March, 2021 / 5:42 PM

Pope Francis has appointed the Auxiliary Bishop of Guinea's Kankan Diocese as the Apostolic Administrator of the same episcopal see within the Ecclesiastical Province of Conakry.   

The leadership of the Archdiocese of Conakry announced Bishop Alexis Aly Tagbino’s temporary administration of the Guinean Diocese Wednesday, March 10. 

“Bishop Alexis Aly Tagbino who has been the Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Kankan was appointed Apostolic Administrator of the same Diocese by Pope Francis this morning,” the leadership of Guinea’s Archdiocese of Conakry announced in a message posted on Facebook March 10. 

The 48-year-old Bishop who was ordained a Priest of the Diocese of Kankan in March 2003, has been serving as Kankan’s Auxiliary Bishop since February 2017. 

Before being appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Kankan, he served as a lecturer and Bursar at Benedict XVI Inter-Diocesan Major Seminary in Kendoumayah, Archdiocese of Conakry as well as the Chancellor of the Diocese. 

He had also served as Vicar of the Parishes of Saints Peter and Paul and Our Lady of the Rosary of Guéckédou of Kankan Diocese.

The appointment comes days after the Local Ordinary of the Diocese, Bishop Emmanuel Félémou passed on. 

Bishop Félémou who had served as the Local Ordinary of the Diocese since March 2007, died March 1 in Conakry, “following a long illness,” members of the Episcopal Conference of Guinea announced in a statement. 

The late Bishop Félémou was laid to rest on Tuesday, March 9 at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Victories and Peace in the Diocese of Kankan. 

As the Apostolic Administrator, Bishop Tagbino will temporarily oversee the administration of the Diocese until a new Prelate is appointed. 

Kankan Diocese, which measures 45,577 square miles has a population of 78,700 Catholics, according to 2020 statistics.