The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Abidjan ( la, Abidianen(sis)) is the Metropolitan See for the

Ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian Churches with traditional hierarchical structure, including Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity. In general, an ecclesiastical province consists of seve ...

Abidjan Abidjan ( , ; N’ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the economic capital of the Ivory Coast. As of the 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of overall population of the country, making it the sixth most populous city p ...

in Côte d'Ivoire.

History

* June 28, 1895: Established as

Apostolic Prefecture An apostolic prefect or prefect apostolic is a priest who heads what is known as an apostolic prefecture, a 'pre-diocesan' missionary jurisdiction where the Catholic Church is not yet sufficiently developed to have it made a diocese. Although it ...

of Costa d'Avorio from the Apostolic Prefecture of Gold Coast in

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

* November 17, 1911: Promoted as Apostolic Vicariate of Costa d'Avorio * April 9, 1940: Renamed as Apostolic Vicariate of Abidjan * September 14, 1955: Promoted as Metropolitan Archdiocese of Abidjan

Special churches

The seat of the archbishop is St. Paul's Cathedral in Abidjan.

Bishops

* Prefect Apostolic of Ivory Coast (

Latin Rite Latin liturgical rites, or Western liturgical rites, are Catholic rites of public worship employed by the Latin Church, the largest particular church '' sui iuris'' of the Catholic Church, that originated in Europe where the Latin language once ...

) ** Fr. Jules-Joseph Moury, S.M.A. (18 January 1910 – 17 January 1911); ''see below'' * Vicars Apostolic of Ivory Coast (Latin Rite) ** Jules-Joseph Moury, S.M.A. (17 January 1911 – 29 March 1935); ''see above'' ** François Person, S.M.A. (9 December 1935 – 8 July 1938) ** Jean-Baptiste Boivin, S.M.A. (15 March 1939 – 9 April 1940); ''see below'' * Vicar Apostolic of Abidjan (Latin Rite) ** Jean-Baptiste Boivin, S.M.A. (9 April 1940 – 14 September 1955); ''see above & below'' * Metropolitan Archbishops of Abidjan (Latin Rite) ** Jean-Baptiste Boivin, S.M.A. (1955.09.14 – 1959.06.10); ''see above'' **

Bernard Yago Bernard Yago (July 1916 – 5 October 1997) was an Ivoirian Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Abidjan from 1960 to 1994 and was made cardinal in 1983. Biography Bernard Yago was born in Pass, Yopougon, and stu ...

(1960.04.05 – 1994.12.19); Cardinal in 1983 **

Bernard Agré Bernard Agré (2 March 1926 – 9 June 2014) was the archbishop of Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, and a cardinal of the Catholic Church. Biography He was educated at the Seminary of Bingerville where he studied philosophy, then the Major Seminary of ...

(1994.12.19 – 2006.05.02); Cardinal in 2001 ** Jean-Pierre Kutwa (since 2006.05.02); Cardinal in 2014

Auxiliary bishops

* Laurent Yapi (1970-1979), appointed Bishop of Abengourou * Paul Dacoury-Tabley (1979-1994), appointed Bishop of Grand-Bassam * Joseph Yapo Aké (2001-2006), appointed Bishop of Yamoussoukro

Other priest of this diocese who became bishop

, appointed Bishop of Man in 1968; later returned here as Archbishop; future Cardinal

Suffragan Dioceses

* Agboville * Grand-Bassam *

Yopougon Yopougon (), also known colloquially as Yop City, is a suburb of Abidjan, Ivory Coast. It is the most populous of the 10 urban communes of Abidjan and covers most of the western territory of the city. Yopougon is the only commune of Abidjan that sp ...

Sources

GCatholic.org

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abidjan Roman Catholic dioceses in Ivory Coast Organizations based in Abidjan Religious organizations established in 1895 Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 19th century 1895 establishments in French West Africa 1895 establishments in Ivory Coast A