On 11 July 2024, 11 priests were ordained at Saint-Paul Cathedral in Abidjan; and on 13 July, another 17 priests and four deacons were ordained at Saint-André Cathedral in Yopougon.
Newsroom (19/07/2024 17:00, Gaudium Press) At St. Paul’s Cathedral in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Cardinal Jean-Pierre Kutwa, Apostolic Administrator of Abidjan, expressed his immense joy at ordaining 11 priests on 11 July 2024, and also gave thanks to God for his 53 years of priestly ordination. At St. Andrew’s Cathedral in Yopougon, Bishop Jean-Salomon Lezoutié invited the 17 priests and four deacons he had ordained to unite in prayer.
Priesthood: a mission full of responsibility
“The Lord is recruiting harvesters, and it is an honour to be called by the Lord, and He associates you with His unique priesthood,” said Cardinal Jean-Pierre Kutwa.
A mission full of responsibility that must be exercised with humility and detachment, as Mgr. Jean-Salomon Lezoutié emphasized: “One day, we will have to give an account of the souls entrusted to us. Faced with such a great responsibility, it is natural to feel fear. However, the solution lies in prayer. So, if you pray the Rosary, that is good. If you pray the Rosary, that is even better. You have Jesus in you and with you in the Blessed Sacrament, you also have the Virgin Mary; ask for her intercession to remove fear,” he recommended.
Priests at the service of their brothers
“It is important to remember that the priesthood is essentially an offering of oneself to God, in a continuous giving of oneself to one’s brothers and sisters,” the prelate emphasized, congratulating and encouraging them for their commitment to following Christ in serving their brothers and sisters well. Cardinal Kutwa urged them never to forget that the priestly ministry is not born first with the institution of the Eucharist, but through the institution of service. “Therefore, it is not a question of increasing the ranks of the presbyterate in quantity, but in quality,” he warned.
The Apostolic Administrator of Abidjan asked the faithful present to support the newly ordained with prayers. He emphasized the importance of watching over the ministry and life of priests so that they not only live a happy and fulfilled priesthood, but also, and above all, “a holy priesthood”.
With information from Vatican News
Compiled by Sandra Chisholm