THE NEW AFRICAN DIOCESE WAS CREATED WITH THE TERRITORY DISMEMBERED FROM THE DIOCESES OF GURÚÈ AND QUELIMANE, AND BECOMES A SUFFRAGAN OF THE METROPOLITAN ARCHDIOCESE OF NAMPULA.
Newsroom (23/01/2025 19:15, Gaudium Press) On the morning of Thursday, January 23, Pope Francis erected the Diocese of Alto Molócuè, in Mozambique. Father Estêvão Ângelo Fernando, from the clergy of Quelimane, was appointed its first Bishop, as Pope Francis Creates New Diocese in Mozambique.
The new African diocese was created with the territory dismembered from the dioceses of Gurúè and Quelimane, and became a suffragan of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Nampula. The following civil districts form part of the territory of the new diocese: Mocubela, Pebane, Gilé, Mulevala and Alto Molócuè.
History of the first Bishop of the new Diocese of Alto Molócuè
Born on June 17, 1974, in Inhassunge, in the Diocese of Quelimane, Estêvão Ângelo Fernando attended the Santo Agostinho Propaedeutic Seminary in Quelimane, entered the Santo Agostinho Philosophical Seminary in Matola and, later, the São Pio X Theological Seminary in Maputo. He was ordained a priest on June 24, 2001.
Among the positions he has held are parochial vicar and then parish priest of Mocuba (2001-2006); member of the Southern African Commission for Refugees (2002-2006); spiritual director of the Xaverian Apostolic Movement (2003-2010); rector of the St. Augustine Propaedeutic Seminary in Quelimane (2007-2010); president of the Quelimane Communications Commission (2010-2011); and collaborator in the Parish of St. Mary Major in Cordenons, in the Diocese of Concordia-Pordenone, Italy (2011-2014).
He obtained a Master’s degree in Pastoral Theology from the Triveneto Theological Faculty in Padua (2014). He was a collaborator at St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Pordenone, in the Diocese of Concordia-Pordenone, Italy (2015-2019), a formator at the Philosophical Seminary of St. Augustine in Matola (2020-2021), and obtained a Doctorate in Pastoral Theology from the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome. Since 2022 he has been Formator and Bursar at the São Carlos Lwanga Philosophical Seminary in Nampula. (EPC)
Compiled by Teresa Joseph
Related Images:
