(CEPAC, Suva, Fiji) – Pope Francis has appointed the Reverend Father Simon Samendra MANI of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MSC), currently the Rector of the Pacific Regional Seminary in Suva, Fiji, as Bishop of the Diocese of Tarawa and Nauru in Kiribati and Nauru. This announcement was published in the Daily Bulletin of the Holy See on May 2, 2024, at noon Rome time.

Bishop-elect Simon Samendra Mani, born on March 27, 1968, in Labasa, Fiji, is the oldest of four siblings.  The bishop-elect grew up in a sugarcane farming community in Nagigi, Labasa. His ancestors were the few Catholic families brought to Fiji from India by the British as workers on a sugarcane plantation.

Bishop-elect Mani attributed his faith formation to his parents, who were the first teachers of his faith, especially his mother, who supported him in his discernment to the priesthood.  He was taught by the Missionary Sisters of the Society of Mary (SMSM) at the Holy Family Secondary School in Labasa, Fiji, and the Montfort Brothers of St. Gabriel.  He is also grateful to the Columban Fathers in Fiji and Sr. Francis Hardiman, SMSM, who was instrumental in his discernment to the priesthood.

Bishop-elect Mani joined the MSC formation program in 1989. The following year, he was accepted to the MSC novitiate in Abemama Island, Kiribati. He took his first religious profession on January 25, 1991, in Abemama.  He completed his seminary formation at the Pacific Regional Seminary, and was ordained priest of the MSC on November 30, 1996, at the Sacred Heart Cathedral, Suva.

As a religious priest, he was assigned as assistant parish priest, then parish priest, principal at the Chevalier Training Centre, and bursar of the MSC congregation for the Pacific. In 2006, he was appointed MSC Provincial for the Pacific, serving three consecutive terms of three years each. In January 2018, he was appointed Rector of the Pacific Regional Seminary until his present appointment as the new bishop for the Diocese of Tarawa and Nauru.

Tarawa and Nauru are familiar places for the Bishop-elect Mani. He spent his novitiate in Kiribati, and later on, as the provincial of the MSC, he visited the islands at least three times a year.

“With this new appointment, I need to pray and process what this all means,” says Bishop-elect Mani, “and with the grace of God, come up with realistic pastoral plans and strategies for the diocese.”  Bishop-elect Mani further shares that this role as the new shepherd for Tarawa and Nauru will be challenging. “However, I am also very confident that with the support of the priests (which working with the clergy will be my very first task), I know we can all work together to continue the mission in Kiribati,” says the new bishop.

CEPAC members assure Bishop-elect Mani their prayers and support as he prepares for this new appointment in Kiribati and Nauru, where his MSC confreres established the Catholic mission.

Ordination details in Tarawa and Nauru will be announced at a later date.