The Holy Father has appointed as bishop of the Diocese of Tsiroanomandidy, Madagascar, the Reverend Gabriel Randrianantenaina of the clergy of Moramanga, until now secretary coordinator of the Episcopal Conference of Madagascar.
Msgr. Gabriel Randrianantenaina was born on February 26, 1969, in Tanambe, diocese of Ambatondrazaka, After his primary and secondary studies, in 1984 he entered the minor seminary of Ambatondrazaka. In 1989 he attended the diocesan preparatory seminary, and subsequently passed to the philosophical major seminary of Saint Paul Apôtre of Antsirabé, and in 1994 the Grand Séminaire Saint Pierre in Antananarivo.
He received priestly ordination on May 31, 1997, and was incardinated in Ambatondrazaka. In 2006, at the moment of the creation of the diocese of Moramanga, he chose to be incarnated in the new circumscription.
After ordination, he first studied for a licentiate in theology at the Université Catholique de Madagascar (1997 – 1998) and went on to serve as parish priest of Saint Tammaro of Anosindrafilo, in the diocese of Ambatondrazaka (1998 – 2000). He was then awarded a licentiate in philosophy from the Pontifical Urban University in Rome, and served as head of the Missionary District of Anosibe An’Ala (2003 – 2010) (2015 – 2016) and delegate of Vocational Pastoral Care (2003 – 2010); and rector of the Saint Jean-Marie Vianney inter-diocesan seminary in Moramanga (2010 – 2015). From 2016 until the present, he has served as coordinating secretary of the Episcopal Conference of Madagascar.
In addition to Malagasy, he knows Italian, French, and English.
According to 2014 statistics, the Diocese of Tsiroanomandidy, Madagascar serves 223,433 Catholics (37.2 percent of 600,167 total) on 40,000 kilometers. It has three parishes and 19 missions with 45 priests (28 diocesan, 17 religious), 168 lay religious (36 brothers, 132 sisters), and 32 seminarians.
About one-quarter of the population of Madagascar is Catholic – about four million adherents in total. There are 21 dioceses including five archdioceses.
