Ouahigouya, Apostolic Prefecture of

OUAHIGOUYA, APOSTOLIC PREFECTURE OF. - It is located in French West Africa and was erected on June 12, 1947 with territory detached from the apostolic vicariate of Ouagadougou. It comprises the two administrative districts of O. and Koudougou with an area of approximately 40,960 sq km.

The population of approximately 897,300 inhabitants is distributed two-thirds in the southern regions. In the north and northeast zones the density is very low: there are found the nomadic tribes of the Peul race, inhabitants of an almost desert country with meager pastures. In the central part the population is very dense and clustered in large villages. It belongs to the Mossi and Gurunsi tribes.

Catholics number 8,772 natives, 22 foreigners, 19 mixed; catechumens 1,008; Protestants 1,470 and Muslims 152,600. The others are fetishists. The prefecture is entrusted to the White Fathers, who number 14, aided by 2 indigenous priests and 9 indigenous nuns. Seminarians 9, who study at Koumi and Pabré. Catechists 156, teachers 17. Principal mission stations 6, secondary 47. Pharmacies 3. Elementary schools 3 with the namesake marshal of Napoleon I, he entered the imperial army.

A cavalry officer, he participated in the campaigns of Spain, Russia and Algeria. In 1849 he was entrusted with the command of the expeditionary corps that was to land in the Papal States. The instructions given to him, both by the Ministry of War and by that of Foreign Affairs, were vague. The former simply ordered him to occupy Civitavecchia and then to remain awaiting new orders; the latter, drafted by Drouyn de Lhuys, then holder of the Foreign Affairs portfolio, urged him, in reality rather ambiguously, to proceed with the occupation of the city of Rome itself. O., having landed at Civitavecchia on April 25, without encountering resistance from the Roman Republic, attempted four days later to penetrate into Rome, but his attempt failed bloodily. O.'s setback was due to the perplexities of the French republican government, which while tending to give some satisfaction to the various and conflicting currents of the National Assembly, on the other hand wanted to counterbalance the direct Austrian intervention in favor of the Pope, a fact that would have assured Vienna hegemony in the Italian question, intolerable for the government of Paris. O., struck by the setback that wounded his honor as a soldier, wanted full rehabilitation which he obtained on July 3 with the occupation of Rome. Thus the Mazzinian Republic came to an end and the return of Pius IX was made possible. Reelected in the meantime as deputy, O. in Paris participated in the sessions of the Legislative Assembly. During the coup d'état of Louis Napoleon, because of his attitude he was arrested and confined at Vincennes until December 16, 1851.

Silvio Furlani