(9 May 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Abidjan, Ivory Coast – 8 May 2025
1. Various of people praying at a mass organized to pray for the ongoing conclave
2. The courtyard of St. John’s Catholic Church in Abidjan
3. Hervé Djezou Konan, priest and the head of communications for the Catholic Church in Ivory Coast, walks in the courtyard of the church
4. SOUNDBITE (French) Hervé Djezou Konan, priest:
“We welcome this good news with great joy, great fervor, and we pray to the Lord that he may raise up and help and support Pope Leo XIV in his mission as pastor of the universal church. So we are very happy here in Ivory Coast, and we pray for the new pope, Pope Leo XIV.”
5. Various of statue outside the church
6. Faithful Clementine Zongo stands in the courtyard of the church
7. SOUNDBITE (French) Clementine Zongo, faithful:
“For me, it’s the breath of the Holy Spirit, and all I hope is that this new pope we’ve been given will be a model pastor, and that the Holy Spirit will always be with him in his discernment and decision-making.”
8. Various of people singing inside the church
9. Various of views of the Cocody Bridge
10. Abidjan’s cathedral
11. A nun and other churchgoers walk in the courtyard of the church
STORYLINE:
Catholics in Ivory Coast say they’re happy with new Pope Leo XIV despite hopes of an African pope being elected.
At St. John’s Catholic Church in the Ivorian capital, the faithful gathered on Thursday evening to pray for the ongoing conclave.
During the service, Robert Prevost of the U.S. was named Pope Leo XIV, making him the first pope from the United States in the 2,000-year history of the Catholic Church.
There were a number of African cardinals considered to be in the running to become pope.
“We are very happy here in Ivory Coast, and we pray for the new pope, Pope Leo XIV,” said Hervé Djezou Konan, a priest who serves as head of communications for the Catholic Church in Ivory Coast.
Clementin Zongo said she was grateful that the conclave had concluded.
“All I hope is that this new pope we’ve been given will be a model pastor, and that the Holy Spirit will always be with him in his discernment and decision-making,” she said.
As Catholicism declines in Europe, it is growing in the developing world.
The number of Catholics is growing faster in Africa than anywhere else.
At least 20% of the global Catholic community is in Africa, which “is characterized by a highly dynamic spread of the Catholic Church,” according to a recent Vatican report.
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