New bishop appointed for the Diocese of Auki

His Holiness Pope Francis on Tuesday appointed a new bishop for the Auki Diocese in the Solomon Islands.

Bishop-elect Peter Houhou is currently the vicar general of the Archdiocese of Honiara and administrator of Holy Cross Cathedral.

He will be the 3rd Bishop of Auki and he will the first Solomons-born bishop to lead this diocese.

The Diocese of Auki was established in 1984, and long-serving New Zealand Marist Missionary Bishop Gerald Francis Loft was its first bishop.

He was followed by Bishop Chris Cardone in who June 2016 was appointed Archbishop of Honiara.

Details  of the ordination of the new bishop will be decided by the Auki Diocesan Administrator and the leaders of Auki Cathedral Parish of St Augustine.

Peter was born on 10 October 1966 in Marau on the island of Guadalcanal.

Even though he is from Marau he has ethnic roots in Ulawa and in West Areare.

Peter’s parents are the late Mr Luke Iawai from Ulawa and late Mrs Salome Sautareia from West Areare.

He completed his studies at Holy Spirit Seminary in Bomana Port Moresby.

The new bishop was ordained to the priesthood on 3 July 1999 by Adrian Smith, Emeritus Archbishop of Honiara.

He has served as an assistant priest and as a parish priest in a number of parishes in the archdiocese.

In 2011 while still maintaining his parish work he took on the additional role of vicar general of the archdiocese.

He was appointed as administrator of Holy Cross Cathedral in 2015.

The Catholic Diocese of Auki has an estimated population of 50,000 people who live in more than 270 Catholic Communities that comprise the 11 parish regions of the Diocese.

There are 34 priests and 21 religious sisters in the diocese along with the more than 500 lay catechists.

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News category: Asia Pacific.