The Regional Episcopal Conference of Francophone West Africa (

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

: Episcopal Conférence Régionale de l'Afrique de l'Ouest Francophone, CERAO) is an agency of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

which includes the bishops of

Western Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurita ...

History

The CERAO was created in 1963. Its first meeting was held in

Anyama Anyama is a city in south-eastern Ivory Coast. It is a suburb of Abidjan and is one of four sub-prefectures of Abidjan Autonomous District. Anyama is also a commune. The city is located about 20 kilometres north of Abidjan. Villages in the sub- ...

, near

Abidjan Abidjan ( , ; N’ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the economic capital of the Ivory Coast. As of the 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of overall population of the country, making it the sixth most populous city p ...

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre i ...

, between 11 and 14 June. A second meeting was held the following year in

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 2 ...

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...

, from 3 to 6 June. It was created to facilitate the coordination of all activities involving the Catholic churches of the member countries and promote, as far as possible, a common pastoral plan. Its headquarters is in

, and statutes were approved during the meeting in

Lomé Lomé is the capital and largest city of Togo. It has an urban population of 837,437

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

, in February 1985.

Organization

The CERAO consists of four main bodies: the Plenary Assembly, the Permanent Council, the General Secretariat, the Council of Presidents. The general assembly, which is the organ that takes all major decisions, meets every three years, otherwise the permanent council meets annually except in years that the general assembly meets. To better serve its objectives, the CERAO it has 13 committees and two secretariats. The committees are: *catechesis *liturgy *theology *the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus ...

*the clergy and seminarians religious *apostolate of the laity *missions *social action and charitable *social media *African Traditional Religion *Islamic-Christian dialogue *migrants *tourism The group's president,

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **'' Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **'' Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, t ...

CERAO of

, Théodore-Adrien Sarr, has held that office since 2003.

Members of CERAO

Part of CERAO Episcopal bishops of the following conferences: *Bishops' Conference of Burkina-Niger (Episcopal Conférence du Burkina and Niger) *Conference of Bishops of Senegal, Mauritania, Cape Verde and Guinea Bissau (Conférence des Bishop's du Sénégal, de la Mauritanie, du Cap-Vert et de Guinée-Bissau) *Episcopal Conference of Benin (Catholic Bishops Conférence du Bénin) *Episcopal Conference of Mali (Episcopal Conférence du Mali) *Episcopal Conference of Togo (Episcopal Conférence du Togo) *Episcopal Conference of Ivory Coast *Episcopal Conference of Guinea (Episcopal Conference de la Guinée)

Presidents

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdio ...

Robert Casimir Tonyui Messan Dosseh Anyron (1978–-1979) *

Paul Zoungrana (1979–1983) *

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...

Dieudonné Yougbaré (1983–1986) *

Bernard Agré (1986–1991) *

Anselme Sanon Titianma (1991–1998) *

Isidore de Souza Isidore de Souza (4 April 1934 – 13 March 1999) was a Beninese priest who was Archbishop of Cotonou from 1990 to 1999. He was born into the aristocratic De Souza family of Ouidah on 4 April 1934. He was the uncle of Chantal Yayi, who serve ...

(1998–1999) * vacant (1999–2003) *

Theodore-Adrien Sarr (2003–)

References

{{Reflist

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20120711042709/http://cerao.cef.fr/ Associations of episcopal conferences Catholic Church in Africa