Abbaye Saint-Benoît de Koubri, Koubri,

Kadiogo Province Kadiogo is a province of Burkina Faso, located in its Centre Region. Its area is of 2,805 km2, containing six departments and a population of 3,032,668 (2019). Its capital is also the state capital, Ouagadougou. It features the central plate ...

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...

, is a

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

of the Subiaco Congregation. Founded in 1961, the monastery is located around 30 km from

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, the capital of Burkina Faso. As of 2000, the monastery was home to 27

monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

s, under the leadership of Abbot Fr André Ouédraogo.

History

Like Monastère Bénédictin Sainte-Marie, Abbaye Saint-Benoît de Koubri was founded by monks from the priory of Toumliline,

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

, upon request of local participants to one of the ''International Meetings'' hosted in Toumliline. Established in 1961, by 1975 the monastery had gained independent status. In 1985, the community elected its first ethnically African superior. When a Benedictine monastery in Zagnanado,

Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

, was closed in 1989, the monastic community at Koubri took in six of the young monks. After nine years of formation at the abbey, these monks returned to Hékanmè in Benin's Archdiocese of Coutonou to restart monastic life there.

Apostolic Work

In the Benedictine spirit, the monks of Koubri attempt to maintain self-sufficiency by means of manual labor. At the monastery, such work takes place at fruit plantations (banana, mango, grapefruit), a chicken farm, a joiner's and welder's workshop, and on a

dairy farm Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for the long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy) for the eventual sale of a dairy product. Dairy farming has a h ...

(reputed to be one of Burkina Faso's best). The monks also administer a guest house and retreat facilities for visitors, and provide meeting-space for

Catholic Action Catholic Action is a movement of Catholic laity, lay people within the Catholic Church which advocates for increased Catholic influence on society. Catholic Action groups were especially active in the nineteenth century in historically Catholic cou ...

. The monastery strives to offer an environment of silence and prayer of which local Christians may take advantage.

Dependencies

In 1998, the monks of Koubri established Mont Tabor de Hékanmè in Attogon,

. The monastery includes seven monks and remains dependent on the Abbaye Saint-Benoît de Koubri.

Personnel

As of 2000, the community at Koubri included 27 monks, five of whom were ordained

priests A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, ...

. The monks of Abbaye Saint-Benoît de Koubri are under the leadership of Abbot André Ouédraogo. The

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...

is assisted in his duties by the monastery's

prior The term prior may refer to: * Prior (ecclesiastical), the head of a priory (monastery) * Prior convictions, the life history and previous convictions of a suspect or defendant in a criminal case * Prior probability, in Bayesian statistics * Prio ...

, Michel Kaboré.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abbaye Saint-Benoit de Koubri Benedictine monasteries in Africa Catholic Church in Burkina Faso

History

Apostolic Work

Dependencies

Personnel

See also

References