Isidore de Souza (4 April 1934 – 13 March 1999) was a Beninese priest who was

Archbishop of Cotonou The Archdiocese of Cotonou ( la, Archidioecesis Cotonuensis) is the Metropolitan See for the Ecclesiastical province of Cotonou in Benin. History * 1883.06.26: Established as Apostolic Prefecture of Dahomey from the Apostolic Vicariate of Benin ...

from 1990 to 1999. He was born into the aristocratic

De Souza family The De Souza family, otherwise known as the De Sousa family, is a prominent Beninese clan. Its founder, Francisco Felix de Sousa, was the Brazilian-born viceroy of Ouidah in the Kingdom of Dahomey. History After immigrating from Bahia in Brazi ...

Ouidah Ouidah () or Whydah (; ''Ouidah'', ''Juida'', and ''Juda'' by the French; ''Ajudá'' by the Portuguese; and ''Fida'' by the Dutch) and known locally as Glexwe, formerly the chief port of the Kingdom of Whydah, is a city on the coast of the Repub ...

on 4 April 1934. He was the uncle of

Chantal Yayi Chantal de Souza Yayi (born ?) is a Beninese politician and former First Lady of Benin from 2006 until 2016. She is the wife of former President of Benin, Beninese President Thomas Boni Yayi. Biography Chantal de Souza Yayi, a native of Ouidah, ...

, who served as First Lady of Benin from 2006 to 2016, and the late

Marcel Alain de Souza Marcel Alain de Souza (30 October 1953 – 17 July 2019) was a Beninese politician and banker. He served as President of the ECOWAS Commission from April 2016 until February 2018. He was Minister for Development, Economic Analysis and Forecast of ...

(1953–2019), a banker and former President of the ECOWAS Commission. De Souza went on to study in

Abidjan Abidjan ( , ; N'Ko script, N’ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the economic capital of the Ivory Coast. As of the Demographics of Ivory Coast, 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of overall population of the country, ...

and Rome.Houngnikpo & Decalo 2013, p. 139 He was ordained a priest on 8 July 1962. De Souza was appointed as

Coadjutor Archbishop The term coadjutor (or coadiutor, literally "co-assister" in Latin) is a title qualifier indicating that the holder shares the office with another person, with powers equal to the other in all but formal order of precedence. These include: * Coadj ...

of Cotonou on 17 July 1981 and became Archbishop on 27 December 1990.Isidore de Souza
Catholic Hierarchy He led the National Conference in February 1990, which was convened to address economic issues but returned Benin to democracy. He was instrumental in preventing the army from disbanding it.Houngnikpo & Decalo 2013, p. 109 De Souza served as the chairman of the High Council of the Republic from 28 February 1990 to 31 March 1991, setting up the presidential election and a new constitution. He persuaded President

Mathieu Kerekou Mathieu is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include: Surname * André Mathieu (1929–1968), Canadian pianist and composer * Anselme Mathieu (1828–1895), French Provençal poet * Claude-Louis Mathieu (1783–1875), ...

to accept the decisions of the council and return Benin to civilian rule. De Souza was the chairman of the Regional Episcopal Conference of Francophone West Africa from 1997 to his death.Nouveau visage et nouveau nom pour le site de l'Eglise catholique en France
He died on 13 March 1999 in Ouidah.

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References

* 1934 births 1999 deaths Beninese Roman Catholic archbishops People from Ouidah 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Africa Presidents of the National Assembly (Benin) Roman Catholic archbishops of Cotonou {{benin-bio-stub