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Styles of
**Dieudonné Datonou**
Styles of; Dieudonné Datonou
Reference style	His Excellency; The Most Reverend;
Spoken style	Your Excellency
Religious style	Archbishop

His Excellency, The Most Reverend

Dieudonné Datonou
His Excellency, The Most Reverend; Dieudonné Datonou
Apostolic Nuncio to Burundi; Titular Archbishop of Vico Equense
Church	Catholic Church
Appointed	7 October 2021
Predecessor	Wojciech Załuski
Other post(s)	Titular Archbishop of Vico Equense
Orders
Ordination	7 December 1989; by Christophe Adimou
Consecration	20 November 2021; by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Edgar Peña Parra and Protase Rugambwa
Personal details
Born	March 3, 1962 (age 62); Dekanmè, Benin
Nationality	Beninese
Alma mater	Pontifical Lateran University
Motto	Latin: Ut ita et vos faciatis; (So that as I have done for you, you should also do)
Coat of arms

Dieudonné Datonou (born 3 March 1962) is a Beninese archbishop of the Catholic Church who has worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See since 1995. On 7 October 2021, he was appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Burundi and elevated to the rank of archbishop.

He is the first native of Benin to hold the title of nuncio.^[1]

Biography

Dieudonné K. Datonou was born in Dekanmè, Benin, on 3 March 1962. He was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Cotonou on 7 December 1989.^[2] He earned a degree in civil and canon law from the Pontifical Lateran University in 1995 with a dissertation "Du concept de patrimoine commun de l’humanité aux droits de l’humanité. Étude historico-juridique du concept de patrimoine commun de l’humanité en droit international".^[3]

Diplomatic career

He entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See on 1 July 1995. He has filled assignments in the offices of its representatives in Angola (1995–1998), Ecuador (1998–2001), Cameroon (secretary, 2001–2004),^[4] Iran (2004–2006), India and Nepal (2006–2009), and El Salvador (2009–2014).^[2] He also worked in the Section for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State^[2] where in 2021 he became coordinator of papal travels. He was responsible for organizing Pope Francis' trip to Iraq in March 2021^[5] and to Hungary and Slovakia in September 2021.^[6] His Vatican colleagues nicknamed him "the sheriff".^[5]^[7]

On 12 September 2021, during a press conference while en route to Budapest, Pope Francis mentioned that Datonou would soon become a bishop.^[8] On 7 October 2021, Pope Francis named him Apostolic Nuncio to Burundi and titular archbishop of Vico Equense.^[2] On 20 November 2021, he received episcopal consecration by cardinal Pietro Parolin, co-consecrators cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle and archbishop Edgar Peña Parra.

Selected works

Du concept de patrimoine commun de l’humanité aux droits de l’humanité. Étude historico-juridique du concept de patrimoine commun de l’humanité en droit international (in French). Rome: Pontificia Università Lateranense. 1995. OCLC 948994871.
Lettre à deux chefs d'état africains: Pour une aube nouvelle (in French). Cotonou: Ruisseaux d'Afrique. 2006. ISBN 978-99919-53-43-4.
Fleur de la terre, semence d'éternité: hommage à son éminence Bernardin Cardinal Gantin (in French). Cotonou: Star Editions. 2007. ISBN 978-99919-62-49-8.