Cardinal in Burkina Faso Lauds South Korea’s Seoul Archdiocese for Friendship, Solidarity

The friendship between the two churches, the Burkinabe Cardinal said, was “born following a visit in 2018 of Cardinal André Young to Burkina Faso.” 

“We would like to take this opportunity to thank God for this friendship and solidarity between peoples and between sister Churches while thanking Cardinal André Young and all his collaborators and in particular the director of the 8 hospitals of the Archdiocese of Seoul, Father Paul Li,” Cardinal Ouedraogo said during the August 3 event.

The ambulance, worth 25 million FCFA (US$45,000.00) is expected to facilitate the transfer of patients to other reference centers in the West African nation.

During the August 3 event, the 75-year-old Cardinal who is also the President of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) recalled that the donation of the ambulance is not the first gesture of solidarity from the Archdiocese of Seoul to the Archdiocese of Ouagadougou.

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“The St. Paul VI Hospital has, in fact, already received on behalf of the Archdiocese of Ouagadougou, an ambulance, a scanner and medical equipment for various medical services,” Cardinal Ouedraogo said.

He expressed the desire to see “our privileged partner, engage in other initiatives geared towards improving the healthcare offered to the sick in the Archdiocese of Ouagadougou.”

On his part, the President of the Board of Directors of St.  Paul VI hospital, Lené Sebgo expressed his appreciation for the ambulance donation, promising that the vehicle “will be used exclusively for the sick.”

“This new ambulance will revolutionize the system of hospital organization so that we don't have to wait until the patient is in a critical state to be transferred in an ordinary ambulance, but we will also be able to accompany the patients so that they can travel within the city to get other types of services and come back to the hospital in good health,” Lené explained.

Represented by the Director General of the Diacfa Group, Joseph Fadoul, the leadership of the Archdiocese of Seoul pledged to continue supporting the Archdiocese of Ouagadougou in providing quality healthcare to the people of God in Burkina Faso.

“We shall continue working with the Archdiocese of Ouagadougou to identify other areas where they need our support,” Fadoul said.

Jude Atemanke is a Cameroonian journalist with a passion for Catholic Church communication. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of Buea in Cameroon. Currently, Jude serves as a journalist for ACI Africa.