BURKINA-FASO: THE VATICAN APPOINTS BISHOP PROSPER KONTIEBO, METROPOLITAN ARCHBISHOP OF OUAGADOUGOU
Prosper Kontiebo, previously the Bishop of the Diocese of Tenkodogo, became the new Metropolitan Archbishop of Ouagadougou, replacing Cardinal Philippe Ouédraogo who retired at 78. He is appointed this Monday, October 16, 2023 in the Vatican by Pope Francis has appointed, announces the episcopal conference of Burkina-Niger.
According to a statement issued on Monday by the representative of the Pope in Burkina, the Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Michael Francis Crotty, Bishop Prosper Kontiébo becomes at 63, the 5th Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Ouagadougou. This appointment comes after the acceptance by the Holy See of the resignation of Cardinal Philippe Ouédraogo, who has reached the age limit.
The new archbishop was born on 25 June 1960 in Boassa in the Archdiocese of Ouagadougou. It was in 1988 that he made his perpetual vows in the congregation of clerics religious ministers of the infirm (Camilliens) in 1988 before being ordained priest on July 7, 1990.
After his ordination, he served at the scholasticate Saint-Camille in Ouagadougou where he held the position of vice-provincial superior of the Congregation of the Camillians of Burkina Faso.
Prosper Kontiebo was also a member of the College of Consultors and of the Episcopal Council, a member of the Congregation of Ministers of the Infirm, and thus the first member of this congregation to be appointed Archbishop. In February 2012, he was appointed the first bishop of Tenkodogo. This responsibility he assumes until Monday, when Pope Francis now entrusts him with the pastoral government of the Archdiocese of Ouagadougou.
The Bishop of Dori, Laurent Dabiré, President of the Episcopal Conference of Burkina Niger (CEBN), reacted to this appointment in a statement in which he expressed the gratitude of the Catholic Church of Burkina Faso to Pope Francis.
«Our thanks also go to His Eminence, Cardinal Philippe Ouédraogo for the immense apostolic work he has done for the benefit of this Church of God in Ouagadougou», indicated the Bishop of Dori.
