AFRICA/IVORY COAST - The President of the Bishops' Conference calls for national reconciliation in view of the vote

Friday, 17 January 2020 bishops   reconciliation  

Abidjan (Agenzia Fides) - "We pray in the name of Christ, let yourself be reconciled with God. Dear brothers and sisters, Christians, like Paul, we have reconciled ourselves with God through the mediation of Christ; he has given us the ministry of speech, of reconciliation, what do we do with it in our families, in our basic ecclesial communities, in our parishes, in our dioceses, in our country that has known the war?", said His Exc. Mgr. Ignace Dogbo Bessi, Bishop of Katiola, Apostolic Administrator of Korhogo, President of the Bishops' Conference of the Ivory Coast, during the homily of the opening mass of the 114th plenary assembly of the Bishops of the Ivory Coast, in the church of San Giovanni Bosco in Korhogo.
In the current extremely fragile socio-political context of the Ivory Coast, a few months before the presidential elections (October 2020), Mgr. Bessi once again urges Ivorians to reconcile and pacify. Through his homily he therefore invites the faithful to make reconciliation a priority because "the primacy of reconciliation with his brother is rooted in reconciliation with God whose urgency, characteristics and modalities are presented by the apostle Paul, a great beneficiary of reconciliation with God, of God's mercy. We are therefore ambassadors of Christ and reconciliation".
The solemn opening of the 114th Plenary Assembly of the Ivorian episcopate, whose theme is "Communion at the service of reconciliation", was held on January 14 at the "Our Lady of the Rosary of Lataha" Spirituality and Reception Center, in the Archdiocese of Korhogo in the presence of the Apostolic Nuncio in the Ivory Coast, His Exc. Mgr. Paolo Borgia, of the administrative, political authorities, military, women religious and numerous faithful. (S.S.) (Agenzia Fides, 17/1/2020)


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