The Archdiocese of Cotonou () is the

Latin Church The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 Catholic particular churches and liturgical ...

archdiocese of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Cotonou Cotonou (; ) is the largest city in Benin. Its official population count was 679,012 inhabitants in 2012; however, over two million people live in the larger urban area. The urban area continues to expand, notably toward the west. The city lies ...

Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

. It is the

metropolitan see Metropolitan may refer to: Areas and governance (secular and ecclesiastical) * Metropolitan archdiocese, the jurisdiction of a metropolitan archbishop ** Metropolitan bishop or archbishop, leader of an ecclesiastical "mother see" * Metropolitan ...

of the

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian churches, including those of both Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity, that have traditional hierarchical structures. An ecclesiastical province consist ...

of Cotonou.

History

* 26 June 1883: Established as Apostolic Prefecture of Dahomey from the Apostolic Vicariate of Benin Coast, Nigeria. * 25 May 1901: Promoted as Apostolic Vicariate of Dahomey. * 13 May 1948: Renamed as Apostolic Vicariate of Ouidah. * 14 September 1955: Promoted as Metropolitan Archdiocese of Cotonou. * 1983: Foundation of the organisation Charity Service for the Integral Development of Man (SCDIH; ) as the social arm of the diocese. It is a member of Caritas Benin.

Special churches

The seat of the archbishop is the cathedral of (Our Lady of Mercy) in Cotonou. (Basilica of the Immaculate Conception) is a

minor basilica Basilicas are Catholic church buildings that have a designation, conferring special privileges, given by the Pope. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectura ...

in Cotonou.

Bishops

* Metropolitan Archbishops of Cotonou, in reverse chronological order ** Roger Houngbédji: 25 June 2016 – present ** : 21 August 2010 – 25 June 2016; formerly bishop of Dassa-Zoume, Benin ** Marcel Honorat Léon Agboton: 5 March 2005 – 21 August 2010 ** Nestor Assogba: 29 October 1999 – 5 March 2005 ** Isidore de Souza: 27 December 1990 – 13 March 1999 ** : 28 June 1971 – 27 December 1990 **

Bernardin Gantin Bernardin Gantin (8 May 1922 – 13 May 2008) was a Beninese Catholic prelate who held senior positions in the Roman Curia for twenty years and the highest position in the College of Cardinals for nine years. His prominence in the hierarchy o ...

: 5 January 1960 – 28 June 1971; appointed Secretary of the

Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples The Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (CEP; ) was a congregation (Roman Curia), congregation of the Roman Curia of the Catholic Church in Rome, responsible for Catholic missions, missionary work and related activities. It is also kn ...

; future

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

Coadjutor archbishop

* Isidore de Souza (1981-1990)

Auxiliary bishop

(1956-1960), appointed Archbishop here; future cardinal

Other priests of this diocese who became bishops

* Lucien Monsi-Agboka, appointed Bishop of Abomey in 1963 * , appointed Bishop of N'Dali in 1999 * , appointed Bishop of Abomey in 2007

Suffragan dioceses

Abomey Agbome or Abomey is the capital of the Zou Department of Benin. The commune of Abomey covers an area of 142 square kilometres and, as of 2012, had a population of 90,195 people. Abomey houses the Royal Palaces of Abomey, a collection of small tr ...

Dassa-Zoumé Dassa-Zoumé , also known as Igbó Ìdàáshà or simply Dassa, is a city in central Benin, on the Cotonou-to- Parakou railway and the main north-south highway. It is the capital of Collines Department. The commune covers an area of , and as of 2 ...

Lokossa Lokossa is an arrondissement, commune, and the capital city of Mono Department in Benin. The name Lokossa translates into English as "underneath the iroko Iroko (Yoruba language, Yoruba: Ìrókò) is a large hardwood tree from the west coast ...

Porto Novo , , ; ; ; also known as Hogbonu and Ajashe) is the capital and second-largest city of Benin. The commune covers an area of and as of 2002 had a population of 223,552 people. In 1863, following British bombardment, Porto-Novo accepted French ...

Notes

References

External links

*
GCatholic.org

Cotonou (Archdiocese)
at ''

Catholic-Hierarchy.org ''Catholic-Hierarchy.org'' is an online database of bishops and dioceses of the Latin Church and the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches that are in full communion with Rome. The website, not officially sanctioned by the Church, is run as a private pro ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Roman Catholic Archdiocese Of Cotonou

Cotonou