(ANS - Rome) - The Rector Major, Fr Angel Fernandez Artime, with the consent of the General Council, has appointed 41 year-old Fr Vijaya Bhaskar Thathireddy, the new Provincial of the Province of St Joseph in Hyderabad, India; and Fr José Elégbédé, aged 48, new Provincial of Our Lady of Peace Province of French-speaking West Africa.

Fr. Thathireddy hails from Alwanpally, in the Indian State of Telengana. He was born on 12 October 1974 to Mr. Innareddy and Mariamma. He made his first profession in Kotagiri on 24 May 1993 and was ordained priest on 3 January 2003 at Ramanthapur, Hyderabad.

He was Vice-Provincial and Rector of the Provincial House in Hyderabad from 2010 to 2015, and also provincial delegate for youth ministry and social communications.He holds a doctorate in philosophy from the Salesian Pontifical University, Rome.

He was elected as Delegate of the Province to the 27th General Chapter. At present he is a member of the Youth Pastoral Team at the Salesian Generalate, Rome.

Fr. Thathireddy succeeds Fr Raminedi Balaraju and will be the fifth provincial of the Province of Hyderabad, which at present has 205 confreres and 32 houses.

Don Elégbédé was born on 27 January 1967 in Cotonou, Benin, son of Honoré and Therese. He entered the Salesian novitiate in Lome, Togo, in 1990, made his perpetual profession on 7 July 1997 in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo, and was ordained on 8 July 1999 in his hometown.

From 2005 to 2011 he was Director of Novices and Rector of the Salesian Novitiate in Lome. From 2011 to 2012 he was Vice-Rector of the community of Bobo Dioulasso in Burkina Faso.

In the Province of French-speaking West Africa he served as Provincial Delegate for Formation (2005-2012), Delegate for Youth Ministry and Vice-Provincial (2011 - present).

Published 17/12/2015