On July 4, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Theodoros II of Alexandria and All Africa, in the church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, Metropolitan Alexios of Carthage, Exarch of Northern Africa, ordained Fr. Labro Cefallino into the priesthood. Fr. Larbo was ordained a deacon four years ago.
Fr. Labro is 32 years old, and married. He will serve in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania. This country, most of which is covered by the Sahara desert, has a population of three million, and its state religion is Islam. Until recently, it was the last country in Northern Africa where there was no Orthodox church or parish. Fr. Larbo is the first Orthodox priest to serve in this country.
After the ordination, Met. Alexios related how difficult it is currently in this North African republic due to religious fundamentalism, Islamic extremism, political instability, bad climactic conditions, and extreme poverty. He asked everyone to pray for Fr. Labro, who has been preparing the ground for a permanent presence and witness of Orthodoxy in Mauritania since 2004.
Also at the ordination were Metropolitan Georgios of Zimbabwe, representative of the Alexandria Patriarchate in Athens, who congratulated Met. Alexios with the growth of his diocese's jurisdiction in Mauritania (his diocese includes Tunis, Algiers, and Morocco).
