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Abstract
Saint-Viator College at Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso (West Africa) is a Catholic
school, the mission of which is to evangelize the youth that attend it, while assuring them a
Christian education of quality. Besides the Catholics, many of the students are Muslims,
Protestants or Animists. There is therefore a religious diversity among the educational
community. Since this situation has been accepted and recognized as such, we may very
well speak of religious pluralism. In such a context, one must really wonder if it is always
pertinent to want to evangelize the young Catholics as well as the students belonging to the
other religions, or must we simply educate them to become better human beings in their
own religion. This question leads us to an adventure of five chapters corresponding to the
five stages of pastoral praxeology. The first chapter depicts the educational community of
Saint-Viator College, in the pluralistic context of Burkina Faso, and demonstrates the
strengths and weaknesses of the manner by which religious diversity is managed. The
second chapter poses the problem of the relevance of the evangelization of youth of
different religions, by ensuring their Christian education. The third chapter illustrates a
hermeneutic of the act of evangelizing youth, taking into account the positive theological
perspective of religious pluralism, in relation to the Church’s magisterium regarding
Christian education of youth. The fourth chapter puts forth four proposals so that the
evangelization of youth, in this context of religious pluralism, may take on the meaning of
an integral education that draws the youth to becoming better human beings in their own
faith. Finally, the fifth chapter expresses the hopes and beneficial effects of a culture of
religious pluralism among the youth at Saint-Viator College of Ouagadougou. This culture
would constitute simultaneously an evangelical prophylaxis against religious
fundamentalism/integrism within the educational community and within the society of
Burkina Faso.
Keywords : Saint-Viator College, evangelization, Christian education, diversity of religion,
religious pluralism, evangelical prophylaxis, religious integrism, catholic school, respect of
the difference.