An agreement has been signed between the Holy See and Burkina Faso.
The ceremony of the signing of the agreement on the juridical statute of the Catholic Church in the State of Burkina Faso was held in the Hall of Treaties of the Apostolic Vatican Palace today, July 12, 2019.
Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Vatican Secretary for Relations with States, signed for the Holy See, and for Burkina Faso H.E. Mr Alpha Barry, Minister of Foreign Affairs and of Cooperation.
Present at the solemn ceremony, for the Holy See were Cardinal Philippe Ouedraogo Metropolitan Archbishop of Ouagadougou; Monsignor Laurent Dabire, Bishop of Dori and President of the Conference of Bishops of Burkina Faso and of Niger; Monsignor Robert Murphy, Counsellor of the Nunciature at the Secretariat of State; Monsignor Joseph Puthenpurayil, Secretary of the Nunciature at the Secretariat of State; Monsignor Kisito Ouedraogo, Official at the Secretariat of State; Dr Barthelemy Kere, Lawyer and lay exponent of the Catholic Church in Burkina Faso.
Present for the side of Burkina Faso was Mr Robert Compaore, Ambassador of Burkina Faso to the Holy See; Mr Der Boniface Kogda, Technical Adviser of the Minister; Mr Edouarsd Ouedraogo, Counsellor of the Burkinabe Embassy to the Holy See; Mrs Lassina Bitie and Mr N. Moussa Sawadogo, Attaches at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
According to a statement from the Holy See Press Office, the Agreement, written in French and made up of a preamble, 19 articles and one additional protocol, «guarantees to the Church the possibility of carrying out her mission in Burkina Faso.»
«Recognized, in particular,» it mentioned, is the public juridical personality of the Church and of her Institutions. The two Parties, although safeguarding the independence and autonomy that are their own, are committed to collaborate for the moral, spiritual and material wellbeing of the human person and for the promotion of the common good.»
The Agreement will come into force with the exchange of the Instruments of Ratification.
[Original text: Italian] [ZENIT’s translation by Virginia M. Forrester]
