Pope names Missionaries of Africa provincial as head of Prince Albert

Published: 2008-05-27

OTTAWA (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Father Albert Thevenot, the Montreal-based provincial superior of the Missionaries of Africa, as the new bishop for the Prince Albert Diocese in Saskatchewan. On May 26, Pope Benedict also accepted the resignation of Bishop Blaise Morand as head of the diocese. Bishop Morand will be age 77 Sept. 12. Born in Manitoba in 1945, Bishop-designate Thevenot became a priest in 1980. He recalled always "having an interest in helping other people in far-off lands." He chose the Missionaries of Africa because they were the only congregation that he knew of that was serving in Africa. He spent 15 years in Tanzania, doing parish work, teaching and working with youth. "It was better than I thought it would be," he said in an interview from Montreal. "I learned more from the Africans about what is mission than I could bring them. I think they changed us more than we changed them," he said. Bishop-designate Thevenot served in Rome for the order's general council and worked with the Society for the Propagation of the Faith. He returned to Canada in 2004 and became provincial in July 2006.

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