Soane Patita Paini Mafi
His Eminence Soane Patita Paini Mafi |
|
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Cardinal, Bishop of Tonga | |
File:Coat of arms of Soane Patita Paini Mafi.svg | |
Church | Roman Catholic |
Diocese | Tonga |
Appointed | 18 April 2008 |
Predecessor | Soane Lilo Foliaki |
Other posts | President of CEPAC |
Orders | |
Ordination | 29 June 1991 by Patelisio Punou-Ki-Hihifo Finau |
Consecration | 4 October 2007 by Soane Lilo Foliaki |
Created Cardinal | 14 February 2015 by Pope Francis |
Rank | Cardinal priest |
Personal details | |
Born | Nukuʻalofa, Tonga |
19 December 1961
Previous post | Coadjutor Bishop of Tonga |
Soane Patita Paini Mafi[pronunciation?] (born 19 December 1961) is the fourth Roman Catholic Bishop of Tonga.[1] At the age of 53, on 14 February 2015, he was appointed by Pope Francis as the first ever cardinal from Tonga and he became on that date the youngest member of the College of Cardinals[2] with the title of cardinal priest assigned to the titular church of Santa Paola Romana.[3][4]
Early life
Mafi was born into a strongly Catholic family. His father and grandfather were catechists. He grew up in Tonga and, as a young man, joined a youth group at his parish in Kolofo'ou near the capital Nuku'alofa on the main island of Tongatapu. He studied for the priesthood at the Pacific Regional Seminary in Suva, Fiji. He was ordained a priest in 1991 at the age of 29.[5]
Priesthood
He then spent four years in parish work on the Tongan island of Ha'apai. In 1995 Bishop Foliaki appointed him Vicar-General of the diocese at the age of 34. He was only 5 years ordained.
He spent three years studying religious education at Loyola University, Baltimore, Maryland, graduating in 2000. He was then stationed for six years in Suva (Fiji), engaged in the formation training of local priests.[5]
Bishop
Mafi was appointed coadjutor bishop of Tonga in June 2007 and was consecrated bishop in that year. When he succeeded Bishop Soane Lilo Foliaki as Bishop of Tonga on 18 April 2008, he became the first diocesan priest to be bishop of the diocese of Tonga.[5] His three predecessors were members of the Society of Mary. He participated in the Third Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the Pastoral Challenges of the Family in the Context of Evangelization held on October 5–19, 2014. Mafi has been president of the Episcopal Conference of the Pacific since 2010.[2]
Cardinal
On 14 February 2015, Pope Francis appointed Mafi a cardinal with the title of Cardinal-Priest of Santa Paola Romana. On 13 April 2015, he was appointed a member of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum for Human and Christian Development.[6]
See also
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[self-published source]
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Christopher Lamb, "Red hats for a global Church", The Tablet, 8 January 2014 (Retrieved 11 January 2015)
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Peter Grace, First-ever cardinal appointed for Tonga", NZ Catholic, 15 January 2015, p. 1.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Catholic Church titles | ||
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Preceded by | Bishop of Tonga 2008–present |
Incumbent |
- Accuracy disputes from January 2016
- Pages with broken file links
- Infobox person using a missing image
- Articles needing pronunciation
- Pages using S-rel template with ca parameter
- 1961 births
- Tongan Roman Catholic bishops
- Tongan cardinals
- 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops
- Cardinals created by Pope Francis
- Living people
- Members of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples
- People from Tongatapu