This Monday, May 5, 2025, marks the opening of the fifth General Assembly of the Regional Episcopal Conferences of West Africa (RECOWA) in Dakar, Senegal. Scheduled to run until May 12, the gathering brings together bishops and archbishops from 16 West African countries under the theme:
“For a Synodal and Self-Reliant Church at the Service of Justice and Peace in West Africa.”
More than a hundred high-ranking Catholic Church leaders from Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea-Conakry, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo are taking part in this major ecclesial event.
The official opening ceremony will take place tomorrow, Tuesday, May 6 at 9:30 a.m., at Dakar’s Grand Theatre, under the patronage of His Excellency Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye, President of the Republic of Senegal. Later that day, at 6:30 p.m., an opening Mass will be celebrated at Our Lady of Victories Cathedral in Dakar.
The Assembly will conclude on Sunday, May 11, with a solemn Mass at the Marian Shrine of Poponguine, a symbolic site for the Catholic Church in Senegal and the sub-region.
This 5th RECOWA Assembly represents a key moment of reflection and unity, strengthening the Church’s commitment to social justice, peace, and local responsibility in the West African context.
