Ambroise Ouédraogo

Ambroise Ouédraogo (born 15 December 1948) is the bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Maradi in Niger. He was appointed in 2001 as the first bishop of this new diocese, one of two dioceses in Niger. He has organised a structure of administration and ministry, with a focus on dialogue with the Islamic majority in the area which has less than 1% Christians.

Ambroise Ouédraogo
Bishop of Maradi
Ambroise Ouédraogo (left) in Wiesbaden with Sr. Emanuela (Eibingen Abbey).
ChurchRoman Catholic Church
DioceseMaradi
SeeMaradi
Appointed13 March 2001
Orders
Ordination29 June 1979
Consecration26 September 1999
by Francis Arinze
Personal details
Born
Ambroise Ouédraogo

(1948-12-15) 15 December 1948
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
Previous post(s)Titular Bishop of Severiana (1999-2001)
Auxiliary Bishop of Niamey (1999-2001)
Alma materInstitut Catholique de Paris
MottoTout est Grâce

Life

Ouédraogo was born at Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, on 15 December 1948. He was ordained as a priest on 30 June 1979. The same year, he was vicar in the parish Sacré Cœur de Dapoya. In 1982, he was appointed military priest of Burkina Faso. In December 1985, he was sent to Niamey in Niger as a priest of Fidei donum. He was parish priest of the congregation Saint Paul de Harobanda there from 1986, from 1987 priest for the youth of Niamey, and from 1989 priest at Niamey Cathedral until 1999. He interrupted his work there from 1992 to 1993 for a residency at the Institut Catholique de Paris.[1]

Ouédraogos was ordained as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Niamey and as titular bishop of Severiana on 18 May 1999. He was consecrated as a bishop on 26 September that year by Cardinal Francis Arinze, with co-consecrators Jean-Marie Untaani Compaoré, archbishop of Ouagadougou, and Guy Armand Romano CSsR, bishop of Niamey.[2]

He became bishop of the new Diocese of Maradi[3] on 13 March 2001.[2] He chose the motto "Everything is grace".[4] In the diocese, he created new structures of administration and ministry, for its area which is twice as large as Germany.[5] He focused on a dialogue with Islam[4] in a region where less than 1% of the population are Christians,[3] in a context where the peaceful relationship were interrupted in January 2015 by violence against Christian locations in Miamey and Maradi, following the terrorist attack on Charlie Hebdo in Paris.[3][6] More than 70 churches were attacked.[3] The bishop has travelled to Europe, especially to Germany where groups including Missio and Caritas support projects in his diocese, to raise awareness of the situation in his diocese.[5]

References
  1. "Mgr Ambroise Ouédraogo". Catholic Church of Niger (in French). Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  2. "bishop/bouea". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney.
  3. "Niger: 'They may have guns, but we have Jesus!'". zenit.org. 4 July 2019. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  4. "Ambroise Ouédraogo". Memim Encyclopedia. 2019. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  5. "Begegnung mit Bischof Rudolf Voderholzer: Bischof Ambroise Ouédraogo, Gast der diesjährigen Misereor-Fastenaktion". Diocese of Regensburg (in German). 28 February 2013. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  6. "Furcht vor neuer Gewalt / Bischof aus Niger über Lage der Christen in dem afrikanischen Land". kirche-in-not.de (in German). 16 July 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
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