By Paschal Norbert
LOKOSSA, MARCH 6, 2023 (CISA)- Pope Francis has appointed Rev Fr Coffi Roger Anoumou, the rector of St. Paul Major Seminary of Djimé as the fourth bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Lokossa, Benin.
In an announcement by the Holy See Press Office on March 4, Fr Coffi a priest of Lokossa will take over from Rt Rev Victor Agbanou, who attained the mandatory retirement age of a bishop of 75 years.
The bishop-elect was born on July 30, 1972, in Dogbo. After attending the minor seminaries of Adjatokpa in Djimé and Parakou, and the preparatory seminary of Missérété, he completed his studies in philosophy and theology at St.Gall Seminary of Ouidah.
At the age of 31, on December 27, 2003, he was ordained a priest for the Catholic Diocese of Lokossa.
After ordination, he first served as a formator and teacher of English and philosophy in the Parakou Seminary from 2003 to 2005, and as assistant parish priest of St. Kisito in Nima, in the Catholic Archdiocese of Accra, Ghana from 2006 to 2007.
From 2007 to 2011, he studied for a licentiate in the psychology of education and development at the Salesian Pontifical University of Rome After serving as a formator in the seminaries of Parakou and Djimé from 2011 to 2012, he returned to Rome to study for a doctorate in the psychology of education at the Salesian Pontifical University.
In Italy, he was the pastoral assistant of the pastoral unit of Gualdo-Montecodruzzo and Borello, in the Catholic Diocese of Cesena-Sarsina from 2012 to 2014 and parish priest of Piavola, San Romano, Pieve Rivoschio and Giaggiolo, in the same diocese from 2014 to 2017. He studied for a doctorate in applied psychology at the University of Paris, as a researcher in Rome and in Benin from 2015 to 2020, and went on to serve as parish priest of St. François d’Assise in Lanta, in the Catholic Diocese of Lokossa from 2017 to 2021.
Since 2021, he has been rector of the St., Paul Major Seminar in Djimé and chaplain of the Bohicon Technical High School.
