Bernard Yago

Bernard Yago (July 1916 5 October 1997) was an Ivoirian Cardinal of the Catholic Church.[1] He served as Archbishop of Abidjan from 1960 to 1994 and was made cardinal in 1983.


Bernard Yago
Archbishop Emeritus of Abidjan
ChurchRoman Catholic Church
ArchdioceseAbidjan
SeeAbidjan
Appointed5 April 1960
Term ended19 December 1994
PredecessorJean-Baptiste Boivin
SuccessorBernard Agré
Other post(s)Cardinal-Priest of San Crisogono (1983-97)
Orders
Ordination1 May 1947
Consecration8 May 1960
by Pope John XXIII
Created cardinal2 February 1983
by Pope John Paul II
RankCardinal-Priest
Personal details
Born
Bernard Yago

July 1916
Died5 October 1997 (aged 81)
Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire
Alma materInstitut Catholique de Paris
MottoUt omnes Unum sint
Coat of arms
Styles of
Bernard Yago
Reference styleHis Eminence
Spoken styleYour Eminence
Informal styleCardinal
SeeAbidjan (emeritus)

Biography

Bernard Yago was born in Pass, Yopougon, and studied at the seminary in Abidjan before being ordained to the priesthood on 1 May 1947, the second African priest to do so after Rene Kouassi.[2] He then served as a professor at the Minor Seminary of Bingerville and as director of the Pre-Seminary École de Petit Clerics until 1956, whence he began pastoral work in Abidjan until 1957. Yago furthered his studies at the Catholic Institute of Paris from 1957 to 1959. Upon his return to Côte d'Ivoire, he was Counselor of Catholic Action in Abidjan from until 1960.

On 5 April 1960, Yago was appointed Archbishop of Abidjan by Pope John XXIII. He received his episcopal consecration on the following 8 May from Pope John himself, with Bishops Napoléon-Alexandre Labrie, CIM and Fulton John Sheen serving as co-consecrators, in St. Peter's Basilica. Yago attended the Second Vatican Council from 1962 to 1965, and sat on the Council's Central Preparatory Commission.

Pope John Paul II made him Cardinal-Priest of San Crisogono in the consistory of 2 February 1983.[3] Yago, who was the first cardinal from Côte d'Ivoire, resigned his post as Archbishop on 19 December 1994, after 34 years. He lost the right to participate in a papal conclave upon reaching the age of eighty in July 1996.

Cardinal Yago died in Abidjan at age 81.[3] He is buried in the metropolitan cathedral of Abidjan.

Legacy

Yago was one of the only clergy in Côte d'Ivoire who openly opposed the construction of the gargantuan basilica, modeled on St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, built by the former president Félix Houphouët-Boigny in his home village of Yamoussoukro because of the enormous waste of hundreds of millions of dollars, and attempted to persuade Pope John Paul II from consecrating it during his visit to the country.[4]

References

  1. Elleh, Nnamdi (2002). Architecture and Power in Africa. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 66–67. ISBN 978-0-275-97679-8.
  2. Daddieh, Cyril K. (9 February 2016). Historical Dictionary of Cote d'Ivoire (The Ivory Coast). Rowman & Littlefield. p. 136. ISBN 978-0-8108-7389-6.
  3. III, Harris M. Lentz (11 July 2015). Popes and Cardinals of the 20th Century: A Biographical Dictionary. McFarland. p. 202. ISBN 978-1-4766-2155-5.
  4. Calderisi, Robert (8 October 2013). Earthly Mission: The Catholic Church and World Development. Yale University Press. pp. 109–110. ISBN 978-0-300-19676-4.
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