AFRICA/MADAGASCAR - Bishop of Grand-Bassam resigns, successor appointed

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – The Holy Father Benedict XVI, on March 27, 2010, accepted the resignation from the pastoral government of the Diocese of Grand-Bassam (Ivory Coast) presented by Bishop Paul Dacoury-Tabley, in accordance with canon 401 § 1 of the Code of Canon Law. The Holy Father has appointed as Bishop of Grand-Bassam (Côte d'Ivoire), Fr. Raymond Abou, FDP, responsible for seminarian formation of the Congregation of the Little Work of Divine Providence, a former missionary in Kenya.
P. Raymond Abou, FDP, was born in Bonou on May 1, 1960, in the Diocese of Grand Bassam. At 14 he started working in the Technical Center of the Orioni Fathers of Anyama. From 1978 to 1982, he completed high school at the seminary for adult vocations in Dapaong (Togo). From 1983 to 1985, he studied philosophy in Bologna (Italy). Finally, he studied theology at the Major Seminary of Anyama (Abidjan). He made his perpetual vows on January 6, 1990, in the Congregation of the Little Work of Divine Providence (FDP), and was ordained a priest on July 14, 1990. After his ordination, he carried out the following tasks: 1990-1996: Parish Vicar in Bonou and License in Canon Law; 1992-1996: Director of Technical Center of Bonou, 1994-1998: Professor at the Catholic University of Western Africa (UCAO); 1996-1998: In charge of Scholastics at the Seminary of “Don Orione” in Anyama; 1998-2009: Missionary in Kenya and a degree in Biblical Theology in Nairobi; 1998-2001: Vicar Kaburugi parish in the Diocese of Morang (Kenya); 2001-2008: In charge of postulants in Nairobi (Kenya); 2003-2009: Professor at the Institute of Theology of the Consolata in Nairobi (Kenya). Since 2009: Returning after 12 years of mission in Ivory Coast, in charge of formation of major seminarians in his congregation.
The Diocese of Grand-Bassam (1982), suffragan of the Archdiocese of Abidjan, has an area of 8,354 square kilometers and a population of 1,650,250 inhabitants, of whom 294,273 are Catholic. It has 34 parishes, 114 priests (101 diocesan and 13 religious), 13 religious, 62 sisters, and 48 major seminarians. (SL) (Agenzia Fides 27/03/2010)