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Bishop-elect for Catholic Diocese of Mamfe in Cameroon to Be Ordained in May

Mons. Aloysius Fondong Abangalo, to be ordained Bishop of Cameroon's Mamfe Diocese 5 May 2022. Credit: Diocese of Mamfe

The Episcopal Ordination of the Bishop-elect for Cameroon’s Mamfe Diocese has been scheduled to take place on the first Thursday in May.

The Apostolic Administrator of Mamfe Diocese, Archbishop Andrew Nkea, announced the date of the consecration of Mons. Aloysius Fondong Abangalo in a Monday, March 28 statement. Pope Francis appointed him Bishop on February 22. 

"The Bishop Elect of Mamfe will be ordained on Thursday, 5th of May, 2022 in St. Joseph’s Cathedral Church of Mamfe," Archbishop Nkea says in his March 28 statement shared with ACI Africa. 

The Archbishop of Cameroon’s Bamenda Archdiocese adds, "The Pontifical Mass will begin at 9:00 a.m. prompt." 

"We are all invited to come and join to pray for and with the new Bishop of Mamfe as he will also take canonical possession of the See of Mamfe on that day and officially begin his Episcopal Ministry in the Diocese of Mamfe," Archbishop Nkea who has been at the helm of the Cameroonian Diocese since January 2014 says.

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He implores, "May Our Lady of Fatima – Queen of Peace, St. Joseph – Patron of the Universal Church and St. Francis Xavier – Patron of the Diocese of Mamfe, intercede for the success of this event.” 

The Diocese of Mamfe has been vacant since December 2019 when Archbishop Nkea was transferred to the Archdiocese of Bamenda.

Mons. Abangalo, 48, was ordained a Priest for Cameroon's Buea Diocese in 2006.

The alumnus of St. Thomas Aquinas Inter-Diocesan Major Seminary also graduated with a Licentiate in Canon Law from the Catholic University of Central Africa (UCAC) in 2014.

Since his Priestly ordination, he has served in several positions including, Vicar of Holy Family Parish in Limbe between 2006-2007; Dean of Our Lady of Grace College in Muyuka between 2007-2009; Diocesan Bursar and Member of the College of Consultors between 2009-2011; and Defender of the Bond at the Inter-Diocesan Court of Bamenda from 2014 to 2019, among other responsibilities.

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He has been pursuing a Doctorate in Canon Law at the Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome.

In a separate statement shared with ACI Africa, Bishop Michael Miabesue Bibi of Buea Diocese says Mons. Abangalo has completed his studies in Rome and "he shall be traveling back to Cameroon and to the Diocese of Buea on Friday, 1st April."  

“I will like to exhort all of you to come in your numbers so as to give him a great welcome into the Diocese of Buea,” Bishop Bibi says in the March 28 statement. 

Upon his installation on May 5, the new Bishop of Mamfe Diocese will be expected to oversee the 10,500 square-kilometer Catholic Diocese that was erected in February 1999.

The Diocese that is part of the Ecclesiastical Province of Bamenda has a population of 155,000 Catholics, according to 2019 statistics.

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Magdalene Kahiu is a Kenyan journalist with passion in Church communication. She holds a Degree in Social Communications from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA). Currently, she works as a journalist for ACI Africa.