“We must not refuse to carry the Cross”: Archbishop at Evangelization Centenary in Ivory Coast’s Bouaké Archdiocese

Bouake, 15 September, 2025 / 8:25 PM

Archbishop Jacques Assanvo Ahiwa of the Catholic Archdiocese of Bouaké in Ivory Coast has urged the people of God to embrace the Cross of Christ with courage and humility as his Metropolitan See marks 100 years of evangelization.

In his homily during the opening Mass of the centenary celebrations in Bouaké, the 70th anniversary of St. Therese of the Child Jesus Cathedral of Bouaké, and the presentation of his pallium, Archbishop Ahiwa encouraged the contemplation of the Cross in the spirit of St. Therese of the Child Jesus, the Patron Saint of Bouaké Archdiocese.

“St. Therese of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face, patroness of our Archdiocese, was a fervent contemplative of the Glorious Cross, of the disfigured face of Christ on the cross. The spirituality of her little way of spiritual childhood draws its deep roots from the contemplation of the crucified Messiah,” the Ivorian Catholic Bishop said on Sunday, September 14, Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.

Looking back at the establishment of Bouaké Archdiocese on 14 September 1955, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, the Archbishop invited the congregation to embrace life’s challenges.

“Born in the shadow of the Glorious Cross, we must not refuse to carry the Cross in the footsteps of Christ. We must not be crushed by the difficulties of life and of our respective missions,” Archbishop Ahiwa said.

For him, challenges must be faced with faith and humility. “Let us be contemplators, venerated adorers of the cross of Christ, to strip ourselves of our pride and live humility so that God may exalt us,” the Ivorian Catholic Archbishop said.

Presenting his pallium, which he received on June 29 from Pope Leo XIV on the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, Archbishop Ahiwa reflected on its significance.

“This liturgical ornament that I wear around my neck and on my shoulders symbolizes my communion with the successor of Peter, the Pope, and my participation in his apostolic authority. It is also the sign of my pastoral mission, called to be a good shepherd in the image of Christ,” he explained.

Archbishop Ahiwa invoked God’s blessing upon the Archdiocese of Bouaké through the intercession of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus.

“Through the intercession of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus, patroness of our Diocesan Church, and of Mary, our Mother, may the Lord, on this blessed jubilee day of the 70th anniversary of our diocese, pour out abundantly upon each of us, upon our families, and upon our country, Ivory Coast, through the merits of the Glorious Cross, the graces of life, happiness, love, and peace,” he implored.