Gabriel Mendy was born on 9 April 1967 in
Lamin in the
Gambia. He has four brothers and two sisters who all live in Banjul. He completed his studies in 1985 at the Saint Peter's Technical and Senior School in Lamin before commencing his
novitiate with the
Spiritans; this lasted until 1987. He continued with his philosophical studies at
Nsukka in
Nigeria before his
ordination and then doing pastoral work in
Kenema in
Sierra Leone from 1990 until 1991. It was around this time that he attended the
Duquesne college in
Pittsburgh where he graduated from the philosophical department in 1998. He continued his formation in the Spiritans after this at the Spiritan International Theological School at
Enugu in Nigeria from 1993 until his ordination which was celebrated on 15 November 1997 in Banjul. Mendy made his solemn religious profession as a Spiritan on 31 August 1996 while still a
seminarian. From 1997 until 1998 he did pastoral work in the Saint Peter and Saint Therese parishes while also working as an aide at the Saint Martin of Porres parish in
Freetown in Sierra Leone. From 1999 until 2002 he served as a teacher back in Kenema before working as a parish priest in the Santa Maria parish from 2002 to 2004 in
Pendembu, which was also in Sierra Leone. Mendy returned to Pittsburgh to the college from 2004 to 2009 where he graduated with a
doctorate in 2009. Until his episcopal appointment, he served as both the professor (from 2010) and vice-rector (from 2011) of the Spiritan International Theological School at Enugu. Throughout 2009 until 2010 he served as a parochial vicar in
New York while he did summer work in New York from 2006 until a decade later in 2016. One such task while in New York was to encourage parishioners to attend
Eucharistic Adoration held in the parish chapel. He was still in New York at
Staten Island (since September 2017 on a
sabbatical at Saint Christopher's parish church) on 30 November 2017 when
Pope Francis appointed him as the newest
Bishop of Banjul. The announcement proved historic for he became the first Gambian national to lead the see and the first Gambian in general to be appointed as a bishop. Mendy received his
episcopal consecration on 3 February 2018 in
Bakau at the
Independence Stadium from Archbishop Edward Tamba Charles. In December 2017 he met with the Cardinal
Archbishop of New York Timothy Michael Dolan at the latter's residence in
Manhattan. The cardinal gifted Mendy with
mitre and a
cassock as well as a ring and
pastoral staff in preparation for Mendy's consecration and enthronement in his new see. ==References==