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“May your commitment be a total surrender”: Catholic Bishop to Women Religious at Perpetual Profession in Ivory Coast

Justin Assalé

By Justin Assalé

Abidjan, 13 March, 2025 / 10:43 pm (ACI Africa).

Two members of the Congregation of the Oblate Sisters of the Assumption (O.A), who made their Perpetual Profession at Our Lady of Lourdes of Ivory Coast’s Catholic Diocese of Kaliola have been urged to offer themselves completely to God, following the example of the great figures of faith, especially the Blessed Virgin Mary.

In his homily during the Perpetual Profession of Sr. Christine Alfred and Sr. Félicité Tchimou, the Local Ordinary of Katiola emphasized the profound and radical nature of the commitment to Consecrated Life. 

“The commitment to Consecrated Life is first and foremost a radical interior commitment,” Bishop Honoré Beugré Dakpa said during the March 10 event.

He added, “May your commitment be a total surrender, like that of the great figures of faith who marked the history of the Church, especially the Blessed Virgin Mary.”

Bishop Dakpa urged the sisters to embrace the pillars of consecrated life: poverty, obedience, and charity.

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“There is also fraternal life in community and another important aspect: the witness of Consolation, seen as the anticipation of the Kingdom of God on earth,” the Ivorian Catholic Bishop said.

The Catholic Church leader further underscored the importance of unwavering faith in God and total trust in His providence.

“Those who are consecrated are called to a transfigured existence,” Bishop Dakpa said. 

He reminded the Sisters that Religious Vocation entails self-renunciation to fully live in Christ.

“This does not exempt one from struggles, trials, doubts, and even infidelities,” the Ivorian Catholic Bishop[ said.

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He encouraged the Sisters to rely on the support of the community and the Church to remain faithful to their commitment.

Bishop Dakpa  called on the community to support the Sisters through prayer, asking for the grace to “remain faithful to their vocation, like Mary, with faith, trust, enthusiasm, and joy.”

The ceremony also marked the beginning of celebrations marking 50 years of the presence of the Congregation of the Oblate Sisters of the Assumption in Ivory Coast.

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