Vincent Sénéchal elected Superior General of the MEP

Representatives of all the MEP groups in Asia and the Indian Ocean have been meeting at the MEP, rue du Bac, for a General Assembly since July 11. The General Assembly takes place every six years.

Vincent Sénéchal

Born in 1972, Father Vincent Sénéchal was ordained priest in the diocese of Le Mans for the Foreign Missions of Paris (MEP) on June 24, 2001.

He holds a doctorate in biblical theology from the Katholieke Universiteit of Leuven and the Institut Catholique de Paris (a thesis published in 2009 by Walter de Gruyter, Berlin). He served as a missionary in Cambodia from 2007 to 2016, during which time he exercised several ministries: vicar and then parish priest, teacher at the seminary and for the formation of lay executives, general secretary and chancellor of the Apostolic Vicariate of Phnom Penh, Catholic representative to the Bible Society of Cambodia, member of the committee for the translation of the Roman Missal into Khmer, student chaplain. During this period, he was also a visiting professor at the Pontifical Institute of St. Peter in Bangalore.

After his election as vicar general of the MEP in 2016, he was in charge of the coordination of the general services of the Society. He was also in charge of the communication, of the missionary animation, of the chapel (in Paris) and of the France-Asia Research Institute (IRFA), of which he became president in 2021. Since 2019, he has also been responsible for the formation of the MEP seminarians.

On June 26, 2021, when Father Gilles Reithinger was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Strasbourg, he succeeded him as Superior General of the MEP.

On July 18, 2022, he was elected superior general of the MEP for a six-year term.

Étienne Frécon

Born in 1983, Father Etienne Frécon was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Lyon for the Foreign Missions of Paris (MEP) on January 8, 2011.

After a canonical degree and a thesis on inter-religious dialogue at the Catholic Institute of Paris, he was sent to the missionary group in Singapore. To meet the needs of the Chinese community in Singapore, he left for three years in Taiwan to learn Mandarin Chinese. He extended his stay in Taiwan to deepen his knowledge of the Chinese language and culture through pastoral experience. He was appointed parish priest of Zhonghe (south of Taipei) and served in this pastoral position for three years. In preparation for his return to Singapore, the Bishop of Taipei and President of the Taiwan Episcopal Conference appointed him Rector of the Taiwan Major Seminary.

After six months of preparation and training, he took over as rector of the Taiwan seminary in January 2019 and officially joined the MEP missionary group in Taiwan, of which he became in charge from July 2020. In addition to his responsibility as rector of the seminary, he was also in charge of the office for the clergy for the Taiwan Bishops’ Conference, in particular for the permanent formation of priests as well as for vocation promotion. Since August 2019, he is also in charge of the permanent formation team (SARMEP) of the MEP.

On July 22, 2021, he was elected vicar general of the MEP.

On July 18, 2022, he was elected vicar general of the MEP for a six-year term.