Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Antananarivo (Agenzia Fides) - Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, Archbishop of Lyons, gladly responded to the invitation from the Cistercian monastery of Maromby, in Madagascar, to preside the 50th anniversary of its foundation and to ordain a monk to the priesthood.
The Cardinal arrived in Madagascar on April 13, accompanied by Fr. Bernard Badaud, Archdeacon and the Bishops’ Vicar for immigrants, and Bruno Millevoye, the Bishop’s Vicar for social and family ministry. Once in Madagascar, he met with Bishop Augustine Kasujja, Apostolic Nuncio and the Bishops of Antananarivo, Fenoarivo Atsinanana, Ambositra, and Fianarantsoa.
During his visit, which will end April 21, the Archbishop of Lyons will meet with the President of the National Assembly, Jacques Sylla, and the local French community. He will also visit a hospital for victims of leprosy in Marana, which is run by the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Cluny.
The Cistercian monastery of Maromby was founded in 1958. Its community has 36 members: 35 Malagasy and Fray Baudouin Mativa, one of the founders. The monastery is home to 70 youth who are in formation to become Cistercian monks. Some monks have left Maromby to found new monasteries in the Seychelles Islands, a place extremely apt for raising animals and for agriculture, which are the community’s main sources of livelihood.
Cardinal Barbarin has strong ties with Madagascar, where he was sent as a Fidei Donum priest and Theology professor in the Major Seminary of Fianarantsoa, from 1994-1998. This is his first trip to the country since he was made a Cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 2003. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 15/4/2008; righe 23, parole 259)
