Our mission is located in Yopougon, which with over one million inhabitants is the most populous district of Abidjan, the economic capital of Ivory Coast
Here, in 1991, the parish of Saint Laurent was established and entrusted to our community since its erection. It initially comprised a densely populated area, consisting of the village of Kouté, many popular neighborhoods, and new urban agglomerations in continuous expansion. In the early years, there were over 200,000 inhabitants.
The missionaries worked patiently and tenaciously to form laypeople and leaders of Ecclesial Base Communities to lay the foundations for new parishes with reduced territorial extensions. This facilitates people’s participation in ecclesial life with a more family-oriented dimension. After 30 years, four new parishes entrusted to the local clergy have already emerged, and our mission currently has 50,000 inhabitants.
Although there has been this “sprouting,” more than 5,000 people attend mass every Sunday, and more than 1,200 young people and adults annually register for catechesis to receive the sacraments of baptism, communion, and confirmation.
Celebrations – Sunday celebrations always have a festive character: the large parish church with its 2,000 seats is often not enough to accommodate all the faithful who also fill the lateral spaces. During major celebrations, thousands of people flock to the lawn in front of the church where tents are set up to follow the celebration outside the church.
This church is also a sign of fraternity, built thanks to donations that, for many years, people have deposited with great generosity and sacrifice, and with the help of many people who, from Italy, have wanted to contribute to this project for the benefit of the entire population.
A young Church – The first attempts at evangelization in Ivory Coast date back to 1637 by the Capuchin Fathers, but the mission failed due to poor sanitary and supply conditions. The Dominicans tried 50 years later and the Spiritan Fathers later, with the same results.
It was not until 1895 and the arrival of six Fathers of the Society of African Missions (SMA) that the first fruits of the mission were seen. The first catechists were trained and gradually the first vocations to the priesthood emerged. Evangelization spread to various regions of the country and the proclamation of the Gospel was well received by the local population. In 1934, the first native priest was ordained.
Therefore, the Ivorian Church is a young Church, and our mission also has this characteristic and great vitality of youth. There is a strong protagonism of the laity who assume various ministries, and there are many groups and movements that, with their particular spirituality, contribute to the Christian formation of individuals and to the evangelizing dynamism.
Church as Family, Church as Mission – In a country that has also experienced tensions between different ethnic groups in the recent past, the face of a “family church,” a community of brothers who walk in unity, is also an important contribution to the construction of a more solidary and reconciled civil society. The experience of faith unites and values different languages and traditions, values and particularities that contribute to forming the harmony of the ecclesial community.
The experience of communion among the faithful nourishes the missionary impulse towards those who do not yet know Christ and is expressed in evangelization missions that take place in the poorest and most peripheral neighborhoods by missionaries and laypeople.
One of the missionaries says:
“Often on Sundays, someone comes with a neighbor, colleague, friend, or relative to the celebration, not to propose a religion, a doctrine, a philosophy, but to make them encounter a Living God, this Jesus whose presence he himself has experienced greatly, like a friendly presence, who protects, who is faithful, who gives a new meaning to life.
The announcement of the Gospel advances through these humble and joyful witnesses who have neither ideas nor concepts to explain, but an experience to share. Then there are those who have known the selfless and attentive love of their neighbors, Christians, during a difficult period or in the midst of a great trial, and this outstretched hand and love received in the name of a God-Love have provoked deep questions, a desire to know that have glimpsed a light.”
