Barthélemy Adoukonou

Who is Barthélemy Adoukonou?

Barthélemy Adoukonou is Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Culture since his appointment by Pope Benedict XVI on 3 December 2009. He was previously Secretary-General both of the Conférence Épiscopale Régionale de l'Afrique de l'Ouest Francophone and of the Association of Episcopal Conferences of Anglophone West Africa, and was a consultor of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. As well as the languages of the two West African international conferences, he speaks Italian and German.

Adoukonou was born in Abomey, Benin in 1942. He was ordained priest on 16 December 1966. After teaching in the St Jranne d'Arc minor seminary of Ouidah, and being chaplain and teacher at the Aufiais College in Cotonou, and assistant parish priest of St Francis of Assisi at Bohicon, Abomey, he spent 1971 to 1977 continuing his studies in religious sociology in Paris, and then of theology at the University of Ratisbonne, where he earned his doctorate. He was meant to present his dissertation to the current Pope in June 1977, but Ratzinger suddenly asked him to hurry up and finish it earlier so he could move the presentation forward to March 77. Between 1977 and 1984 he was rector of the Minor Seminary of St. Paul at Djimi, Abomey, Missionary Professor at the University of West Africa in Abidjan and professor of methodology of research in human and social sciences at the University of the State of Abomey-Calavi and at the Major Seminary of Saint Gall in Ouidah, Benin. From 1988 to 1999 he was Rector of the Benin Propaedeutic Seminary at Missérété, Porto Novo.