Marcel Honorat Léon Agboton

Cotonou Cathedral

Archbishop Marcel Honorat Léon Agboton (born January 16, 1941 in Avankou) is a retired Beninese Roman Catholic archbishop; he is the Archbishop Emeritus of Cotonou.

He was ordained as a priest on January 6, 1966, shortly before his 25th birthday and worked for nearly thirty years in Porto Novo. On December 19, 1994, he was appointed the first Bishop of Kandi, and on January 29, 2000, he was appointed Bishop of Porto Novo. On March 5, 2005, he became the new Archbishop of Cotonou, succeeding Nestor Assogba in Cotonou.

In May 2008 he received a telegram from Pope Benedict XVI after the death of Bernadine Gantin was announced. 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." ^[1]

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

References

1. ^ "Pope Mourns ‘Africa’s Eminent Son’, Cardinal Gantin". Africanmeeting.net. May 16, 2008. http://africanmeeting.net/Benin/index.php/2008/05/16/pope-mourns-africas-eminent-son-cardinal-gantin/. Retrieved December 21, 2008. 

External link and source

• Page at the Catholic Hierarchy website

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by NA	Bishop of Kandi 1994 - 2000	Succeeded by Clet Felhio
Preceded by Vincent Mensah	Bishop of Porto Novo 2000 - 2005	Succeeded by René-Marie Ehuzu
Preceded by Nestor Assogba	Archbishop of Cotonou 2005 - 2010	Succeeded by Antoine Ganyé

Persondata
Name	Agboton, Marcel
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Date of birth	January 16, 1941
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