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(CEPAC, Suva, Fiji) – The Holy Father has appointed His Excellency, the Most Reverend Susitino Sionepoe, S.M., currently bishop of Wallis and Futuna, as metropolitan archbishop of Nouméa, New Caledonia. Pope Francis has also appointed the Reverend Father Tamati Alefosio, M.S.C., currently the parish priest of Saint Peter Chanel in Samoa, as the prefect apostolic of the Marshall Islands. This announcement was published in the Daily Bulletin of the Holy See on January 14, 2025, at noon Rome time.
Bishop Susitino Sionepoe, S.M., succeeds the Most Reverend Michel-Marie-Bernard Calvet, S.M., as the Holy Father accepted the latter’s resignation from the pastoral care of the Archdiocese of Noumèa. Archbishop Calvet will be eighty-one years old on April 3, 2025. Bishop Sionepe was born on January 4, 1965, and ordained priest for the Society of Mary on November 28, 1993. He was appointed bishop of Wallis and Futuna on December 24, 2018, and consecrated on March 24, 2019.
Fr. Tamati Alefosio Sefo, M.S.C., succeeds Fr. Ariel Galido, M.S.C., as prefect of the Marshall Islands. Fr. Sefo was born on April 28, 1972, in Tafitoala Safata, Samoa. He studied philosophy and theology at the Pacific Regional Seminary in Fiji. He was ordained priest on November 27, 2004. He served as a parish priest, director of formation for his congregation, and superior of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, then provincial superior for the Pacific Region from 2021-2023
As we approach the Season of Creation 2026, the Episcopal Conference of the Pacific (CEPAC) invites all dioceses across our region to unite in prayer, reflection, and action for our common home. Following the recent pastoral letter from Archbishop Ryan Jimenez, President of CEPAC, all faithful, parishes, and communities are invited to participate fully in this
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Following a landmark decision at last year’s Plenary Assembly, the Episcopal Conference of the Pacific (CEPAC) is officially preparing for the region-wide observance of the Season of Creation, running from September 1 to October 4, 2026. The initiative marks a unified, ecological-spiritual milestone for the Pacific, culminating on the newly approved Feast of Creation on October
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