Advertisement

Spiritan Superior in Congo-Brazzaville Appointed Bishop for Dolisie Diocese

Mons. Toussaint Ngoma Foumanet, appointed Bishop for Congo-Brazzaville's Dolisie Diocese on 11 May 2022. Credit: Courtesy Photo

The Provincial Superior of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit (Spiritans - CSSp) in Congo-Brazzaville has been appointed Bishop for the Catholic Diocese of Dolisie in the Central African nation.

The Wednesday, May 11 appointment of Mons. Toussaint Ngoma Foumanet by Pope Francis was published by the Holy See Press Office.

Aged 47, Mons. Foumanet is expected to succeed Archbishop Bienvenu Manamika Bafouakouahou, the Congolese Catholic leader known for marketplace preaching who was transferred to Brazzaville Archdiocese as Coadjutor Archbishop  in April 2020, and in November 2021, as the Local Ordinary of the country’s only Metropolitan See.

The Bishop-elect for Dolisie Diocese has been serving as the Provincial Superior of the Spiritans in Congo-Brazzaville since 2016.

Mons. Foumanet who has also been serving as Coordinator of the Spiritans’ Union of Circumscriptions of Central Africa (UCSAC) is expected to become the second Bishop of the Congolese Diocese that was erected on 24 May 2013.

Advertisement

Born in Congo-Brazzaville’s Nkayi Diocese in November 1975, Mons. Foumanet started his formation with the Spiritans in 1998.

His initial formation with Spiritans took him to Libreville, Gabon where he studied Philosophy from 1999 to 2002; then to Mbalmayo, Cameroun where he had his year of Novitiate. 

He studied Theology at St. Cyprien in Douala, Cameroun, from 2004 to 2008.

Mons. Foumanet made his perpetual profession on 14 September 2007 in Ngoya, Cameroun, and was ordained a Priest on 26 July 2008 in Pointe-Noire, Congo-Brazzaville.

As a Spiritan Priest, the Bishop-elect has ministered in Parishes in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) Mbaïki Diocese and Bangui Archdiocese, as well as the Archdiocese of Brazzaville in his native country.

More in Africa

In a message congratulating the Bishop-elect, the leadership of the Spiritans in Rome say, “We thank God for the gift of this new pastor to the Church of God in Dolisie, Congo Brazzaville.”

“Our congratulations to Toussaint Ngoma Foumanet for accepting this new challenge of being diocesan Shepherd,” the Fr. Alain Mayama-led team of Spiritans adds. 

Mons. Foumanet is expected to be at the helm of Dolisie Diocese that measures 25,942 square kilometres and with 76,700 Catholics, according to 2019 statistics.

Jude Atemanke is a Cameroonian journalist with a passion for Catholic Church communication. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of Buea in Cameroon. Currently, Jude serves as a journalist for ACI Africa.