Marcel Honorat Léon Agboton

Archbishop Marcel Honorat Léon Agboton (16 January 1941 – 14 September 2023) was a Beninese Roman Catholic archbishop, the Archbishop Emeritus of Cotonou.

His Excellency

Marcel Honorat Léon Agboton
Archbishop Emeritus of Cotonou
Appointed5 March 2005
Term ended21 August 2010
PredecessorNestor Assogba
SuccessorAntoine Ganyé
Previous post(s)Bishop of Kandi (1994–2000)
Bishop of Porto Novo (2000–2005)
Orders
Ordination6 January 1966
by Noël Laurent Boucheix
Consecration25 March 1995
by Bernardin Gantin
Personal details
Born(1941-01-16)16 January 1941
Died14 September 2023(2023-09-14) (aged 82)

Biography

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Agboton was ordained as a priest on 6 January 1966, shortly before his 25th birthday and worked for nearly thirty years in Porto-Novo. On 19 December 1994 he was appointed the first Bishop of Kandi, and on 25 March 1995 was consecrated bishop of that diocese. On 29 January 2000 he was appointed Bishop of Porto-Novo and installed on 18 June the same year. Appointed on 5 March 2005, he was installed Archbishop of Cotonou on 2 April 2005, succeeding Nestor Assogba.[1]

In May 2008 he received a telegram from Pope Benedict XVI on the death of Cardinal Bernardin Gantin. The telegram described Gantin as "an eminent son of Benin and Africa who won great respect within the universal Church". The Pope wrote "I ask God the Father, from Whom all mercy comes, to welcome into His light and peace this eminent son of Benin and of Africa who, universally esteemed, was animated by a profound apostolic spirit and by an exalted sense of the Church and her mission in the world."[2]

His resignation was accepted by Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday 21 August 2010. Bishop Antoine Ganyé of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dassa-Zoume was his successor as Metropolitan Archbishop of Cotonou.

Agboton died on 14 September 2023, at the age of 82.[3]

References

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  1. ^ "Archbishop Marcel Honorat Léon Agboton". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  2. ^ "Pope Mourns 'Africa's Eminent Son', Cardinal Gantin". Africanmeeting.net. 16 May 2008. Archived from the original on 2 December 2008. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  3. ^ Bénin : Monseigneur Marcel Agboton est décédé (in French)
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Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Archbishop of Cotonou
2005–2010
Succeeded by
Preceded by Bishop of Porto Novo
2000–2005
Succeeded by
Preceded by
NA
Bishop of Kandi
1994–2000
Succeeded by