There are an estimated 2.8 million baptised Catholics in Ivory Coast, 17.2% of the population (according to the 2014 Census),[2] in 15 dioceses.

In 1634, the first missionaries, six Capuchin firars from Saint-Malo, landed at Abiany, today called Assinie.

Though they were initially welcomed by the locals, the mission failed as four of the priests died due to fever and the remaining two fled to the Portuguese fort in Axim in 1638.

[6] Bernard Yago became the first cardinal of the country on 2 February 1983 when he was consecrated by Pope John Paul II as Cardinal-Priest of San Crisogono.

[7] He was one of the few priests in the Ivory Coast who openly opposed the construction of the gargantuan basilica, modeled on St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, built by the former president Félix Houphouët-Boigny in his home village of Yamoussoukro because of the enormous waste of hundreds of millions of dollars, and attempted to persuade Pope John Paul II from consecrating it during his visit to the country.