Avenue named after first non-French West African Catholic Bishop

History was made towards the end of 2019, when in Koupéla, in the central-east of Burkina Faso, an avenue was inaugurated. The avenue called Mgr Dieudonné Yougbaré, was named after the first indigenous Burkinabè Bishop.

Recowa-Cerao – Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire

The inauguration of the avenue, comes two years after a 2017 Symposium on the life of this great figure of the Burkinabè Church.

White Fathers arrived in Koupéla in 1900

An avenue of Koupéla in central-eastern Burkina Faso is now named after the very first non-French West African Catholic Bishop, Mgr Dieudonné Yougbaré. This avenue runs through the centre of Koupéla and ends at the entrance of the city where a monument of the first White Fathers (Missionaries of Africa) is erected. The White Fathers arrived in January 1900 in Upper Volta (old name of Burkina Faso).

The Bishop introduced many social initiatives to benefit the people

The inauguration of the road took place in the presence of many Bishops of the Episcopal Conference of Burkina Faso and Niger as well as civic leaders of Koupéla. In naming the avenue after Bishop Yougbaré, the city recognised the leadership and many social initiatives the Bishop undertook for the benefit of the people.

Appointed Bishop by Pope Pius XII

Dieudonné Yougbaré (16 February 1917 – 4 November 2011) was only 39 years old at his appointment as Bishop of Koupéla on 29 February 1956, by Pope Pius XII. He was consecrated Bishop on 8 July 1956, by Cardinal Pierre-Marie Gerlier, Archbishop of Lyon, France.

After his retirement in 1995, Bishop Yougbaré lived in Bagré, about 90 km from Koupéla, where he founded a retirement home for elderly priests. He died on 4 November 2011.

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