Leo XIV Degrades African Bishop Who Defended Celibacy
The Diocese of Man has 29 parishes and 71 priests. Abidjan has 72 parishes and 585 priests. The Archdiocese of Abidjan is the metropolitan see of Côte d’Ivoire. The move from diocesan bishop to auxiliary bishop is a demotion.
Bishop Reaffirms Celibacy
In 2024 and 2025, significant tensions arose in the Diocese of Man between Bishop Gnéba and some of his clergy.
In early 2024, Monsignor Béby Gnéba issued a pastoral directive urging the faithful to report to him any priest who was not faithful to his vow of celibacy, who had a wife or children, who committed sexual abuse, or who engaged in financial misconduct.
Appalled by the number of priests living with concubines - often with children they had fathered - and supporting these families with Church funds, the bishop demanded that such priests resign from ministry. He described failure to report such cases as “a sin of complicity.” The letter was “urgent, important and necessary.”
Bishop Gnéba indicated that he was acting in accordance with Pope Francis’s call for “zero tolerance” of clerical misconduct.
Clergy rebel
Some clergy objected to the bishop and described his leadership style as authoritarian.
They claimed he lacked an understanding of the “synodal” Church.
Vatican sidelines Bishop
In August 2024, Francis sent an Apostolic Visitator, Monsignor Roger Houngbédji of the Archdiocese of Cotonou (Benin), to meet with clergy and parishioners and assess the situation.
In December 2024, Francis appointed Cardinal Jean-Pierre Kutwa as Apostolic Administrator sede plena to guide the diocese. Bishop Gnéba retained his title as Bishop of Man but refrained from making administrative decisions and undertook a “spiritual renewal.”
At the beginning of 2025, the priests of the Diocese of Man issued a public statement expressing regret and seeking reconciliation. They asked forgiveness from Monsignor Gnéba for the deterioration of their relationship with him.
On 27 September 2025, the Diocese of Man celebrated the ordination of seven new priests at the Cathédrale Saint-Michel Archange. Bishop Gaspard Béby Gnéba was present at the ceremony, but the ordaining prelate was Cardinal Kutwa.
Picture: Vatican Media, #newsMvorbpcbtp