Fides News - English

AFRICA/SOUTH SUDAN — Kiir dissolves government ahead of December 22 elections

Thu, 24 Sep 2026 13:49:09 +0200

Juba — South Sudan is heading toward elections scheduled for December 22 after President Salva Kiir, on September 22, dissolved the Transitional Government of National Unity and appointed an interim executive. The move brings to an end the power-sharing arrangement established under the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan , signed in 2018 to end the civil war that broke out in 2013.
The decision came a day after Kiir signed amendments to the electoral law removing some of the previous requirements for holding elections, including the completion of the permanent Constitution and the national census. The new provisions also allow the President to remain in office, with his constitutional powers, throughout the electoral period and until the newly elected president is sworn in.
In response to the decree dissolving the government of national unity, eight opposition groups and civil society organizations sent a joint letter on September 23 to IGAD Executive Secretary Workneh Gebeyehu and African Union Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf. They stated that the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan had failed as a framework for managing the country’s political transition.
IGAD is the regional organization comprising Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, Eritrea and South Sudan. It mediated the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan , signed in 2018.
The term “Revitalized” refers to the fact that the new agreement “revitalized” the previous 2015 agreement , which failed after fighting resumed between President Salva Kiir and the opposition led by Riek Machar. Machar, who heads the opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition , remains under house arrest. He is on trial on charges of treason and murder, which he has rejected.
The opposition is also alarmed by the fact that Kiir will remain President during the transition to the elections, while the First Vice President and the other vice presidents have been removed from office. This effectively leaves him in a position of absolute power.
South Sudan is also heading toward elections without a permanent Constitution, as noted by Bishop Santo Loku Pio Doggale, Auxiliary Bishop of Juba. In a previous intervention, he warned against proceeding with elections without a voter census and without a defined constitutional framework .
The general elections are scheduled for December 22, 2026. They will be South Sudan’s first national elections since the country declared independence in 2011. The vote, initially scheduled for 2022, has been postponed several times during the transitional period.

ASIA/MYANMAR — Bishop among displaced people in Kachin State: “You are not forgotten”

Thu, 24 Sep 2026 13:41:14 +0200

Myitkyina — They brought hope and spiritual consolation to more than 1,000 internally displaced people living in the St. Teresa refugee camp, described as “the most vulnerable faithful of the Diocese of Myitkyina,” in Myanmar’s Kachin State, a region gripped by civil conflict.
Bishop John Mung Ngawn La Sam, at the head of the Diocese of Myitkyina, together with several priests and consecrated lay Catholics, visited the camp, where the Bishop celebrated Sunday Mass and administered the Sacrament of Confirmation to seven adult faithful.
“It was a moment of grace amid the continuing hardships faced by the displaced families,” said the local parish priest, Father Peter Lazum Naw Bawk. He noted that the faithful warmly welcomed the Bishop and his delegation, which also included the head of Caritas .
The pastoral visit, which took place on Sunday, September 20, reflects the Church’s continued commitment to accompanying people affected by displacement, suffering and conflict.
“The faithful at St. Teresa refugee camp were reassured that they have not been forgotten, neither by their pastors nor by God,” the parish priest stressed.

During the Eucharistic celebration, the Bishop told the faithful: “God is always ready to bless us. But God’s blessings flow from a life lived according to His will. We are children of God, but at times we do not live according to God’s will. Beloved children do good works; they are not content with a ‘nominal Christianity,’ but embrace and live a living, concrete faith, bearing witness to it in everyday life.”
“We are not Catholics ‘by birth,’” he warned, “but by doing the will of God and following the commandments of the Lord Jesus. Today we must remember that we are Christians not only in name but in deed, through the works of those who take up their cross and follow the Lord Jesus.”
In difficult circumstances marked by insecurity and precariousness, the Bishop’s visit brought consolation and spiritual comfort to the community. The celebration of Mass and the administration of Confirmation were a significant moment for the seven adults who received the sacrament, strengthening their commitment to the faith.

After Mass, the Bishop and those accompanying him met with the Sisters of St. Paul and the students at a nearby boarding school, offering words of encouragement and support.
As people face uncertainty about their future, the message of the pastoral visit resonated strongly: in a place marked by displacement and loss, hope does not disappear.
The St. Teresa refugee camp currently hosts 480 families of internally displaced people, more than 1,000 people in total, who came from surrounding villages and settled there in March 2025 because of the ongoing conflict in the region.

Kachin State, in northeastern Myanmar, has for years been one of the main theatres of armed conflict in the country. Hostilities between the Myanmar military and the Kachin Independence Army , the armed wing of the Kachin Independence Organization, intensified following the military coup of February 2021. The KIA has fought alongside other resistance forces against the military.
In 2026, fighting has been concentrated mainly around Bhamo and Shwegu, while the military has sought to consolidate its positions and reopen communication routes toward the north. According to UN data, by June around 250,000 people had been displaced within Kachin State alone, an increase compared to the previous year.
The humanitarian situation is particularly serious: Military operations, clashes and airstrikes continue to cause new displacement and make access to humanitarian assistance difficult. UNICEF has reported a deterioration of the situation in Kachin, with additional people forced to flee their homes as fighting intensifies, particularly in the areas of Bhamo and Hpakant.
According to the United Nations, nearly 3.8 million people are internally displaced across Myanmar in 2026 as a result of the civil conflict, which has now lasted for more than five years.

BEATIFICATION OF FULTON SHEEN/VI — At the Vespers for Fulton Sheen, “made holy through his friendship with Christ”

Thu, 24 Sep 2026 13:02:57 +0200

by Marie-Lucile Kubacki

Saint Louis On the way to the cathedral, a white Chevrolet Express van stands out. A sign in its window reads: “Alabama Catholics headed to celebrate Ven. Bl. Fulton Sheen.”

Inside the cathedral, the crowd keeps growing. Some have travelled from the dioceses of St Louis and Peoria; others have come from farther away. Priests, religious men and women, and lay faithful fill the church. A few women wear mantillas; others have chosen elegant dresses or suits. Sweatshirts mingle with formal clothes.
People of different ages and styles have come together for the evening prayer on the eve of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen’s beatification.
Cameras focus on the pilgrims, asking where they have come from and what Sheen means to them. Some of the oldest remember the television programs their parents or grandparents watched when they were children. Most were too young to have watched his broadcasts. They know him instead as both a spiritual figure and a pioneer of Catholic broadcasting. Many say they wanted to be present for what they see as a “moment in history.”

Bishop Barron’s homily

Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski of St Louis presides at the vespers. The atmosphere is solemn. Four U.S. cardinals, Seán O’Malley, Raymond Burke, Blase Cupich and Robert McElroy, open the procession. Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, also takes part in the prayerful assembly. Then the choir’s clear voices rise with the hymn “Receive this hymn, O noble priest.” The psalm follows: “The Lord is my light and my help; whom shall I fear?” After the reading from the First Letter of Peter, an appeal to shepherd the flock willingly and by example, Bishop Robert Barron, who leads the Diocese of Winona-Rochester in Minnesota and founded the Catholic media organisation Word on Fire, delivers the homily.

Barron tells the congregation that Sheen has been his “model and inspiration” since the beginning of his own work in evangelization. He describes Sheen as a pivotal figure in the modern history of the Church, one who opened the way to evangelizing the world through electronic media. At the height of his television career, Barron recalls, Sheen reached an audience of millions. But the preacher’s fame is not the heart of the homily. The question is what made him holy. Barron’s answer is friendship with Christ.

Christianity, as Sheen presented it, is not an abstract philosophy or simply a set of moral convictions, but a relationship with a living person. To explain what that friendship involves, Barron turns to Sheen’s autobiography, Treasure in Clay, and to the prophet Isaiah’s call. He sets out three movements in the spiritual life: an encounter with God’s holiness, a recognition of one’s own frailty, and a response to being sent.
Grace comes first, Barron says. The spiritual life does not begin with personal ambitions or achievements, but with the realization that God is at work.
In Sheen’s story, that grace was present from childhood: in his baptism in El Paso, Illinois; in a bishop’s prediction that the young altar server would one day study in Louvain; and in the moment, as a seminarian, when he felt his faith suffused with light.
Barron also points to Sheen’s devotion to Mary and, above all, his daily Holy Hour before the Blessed Sacrament. Prayer was a way of remaining in Christ’s presence and of being made ready to serve.

The gift of recognizing oneself as a sinner

That readiness, Barron argues, depended on Sheen’s capacity to acknowledge his weaknesses. In Treasure in Clay, Sheen admits that he enjoyed the honours and privileges of his position and the recognition that came with being a popular professor and preacher. The image in the book’s title captures the contrast: a precious treasure carried in a fragile vessel. For Barron, Sheen’s willingness to recognize his vanity and failures was not a contradiction of holiness, but part of it. The awareness of sin, he says, comes not from moving away from God, but from encountering the light of grace.

Sheen in the footsteps of the missionary Saints

Barron then reflects on mission. “Once bathed in grace, once purified, the follower of Christ is sent,” he says. He traces that call through Sheen’s studies in Louvain, his teaching and his broadcasts.

Sheen wanted to bring the thought of St Thomas Aquinas to bear on the questions of his own time, Barron explains, and deliberately studied “the art, science, philosophy, and literature of the secular world” so that his teaching would remain outward-looking and oriented towards mission.
Sheen saw radio and television as ways to extend the reach of his work. “He knew this would expand the walls of his classroom exponentially,” Barron says of Sheen’s decision to speak on the Catholic Hour. Later, when some academics questioned the wisdom of presenting complex Catholic teaching to a mass television audience, Sheen did not hesitate. “He was, of course, more than qualified academically, but he was also endowed with splendid gifts for popular communication,” Barron says. “And he proved that a sophisticated presentation of the faith could play on the widest stage possible.”
For Barron, this makes Sheen a forerunner of the Church’s contemporary call to evangelize. “I believe that Fulton Sheen is par excellence the saint of the new evangelization,” he says. He links that mission to the Second Vatican Council, which Pope John XXIII conceived as a missionary council: one called to bring “the light of Christ to all people,” to move the Church beyond “its self-protective walls” and into contact with wider society. Barron recalls Paul VI’s teaching in Evangelii nuntiandii that evangelization is the Church’s essential mission.
John Paul II later made the new evangelization central to his pontificate, Barron says, and successive popes continued to develop the theme. Sheen took up the Council’s vision with passion, he adds, but had anticipated its emphasis throughout his ministry: “Anyone who seeks fresh language to bring the Gospel to our culture, anyone who preaches the ancient word with a heart on fire, anyone who dares to use the media of communication available to us today is indebted to Fulton Sheen.”

The missionary saints in the cathedral’s mosaics

As Bishop Barron finishes his homily, eyes lift toward the cathedral’s mosaics to pray. “Look up towards the south transept,” Michael Pera, provincial archivist of the Society of the Sacred Heart, had advised us. There is Rose Philippine Duchesne, depicted in a mosaic designed by Hildreth Meière. French-born Duchesne came to the United States in 1818 with four companions from the Society, the religious congregation founded by Madeleine Sophie Barat. They travelled to Missouri to establish schools. Other missionary figures appear in the basilica dedicated to St Louis, the city’s patron. Other missionary figures appear in the basilica dedicated to St Louis, the city’s patron. St Isaac Jogues, the French Jesuit missionary and martyr of New France, is shown with St. René Goupil, a 17th-century French Jesuit lay missionary martyred during the missions to North America, and St. Kateri Tekakwitha, the first Native American saint, known as the "Lily of the Mohawks." St Frances Xavier Cabrini, born in Italy and founder of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, is there too.
Together, the figures suggest a history of Catholic mission in North America: work among Indigenous communities, the witness of the first martyrs, and the pastoral presence of the Church among immigrants. Sheen belongs to that history, Barron’s homily suggests, not because he used new media, but because he put them at the service of a mission that had begun long before radio or television.

The vespers end. Pilgrims linger on the steps, talking in the evening air. A family approaches Barron and asks for a blessing. In a supermarket, a priest is stopped by a young man. “What’s all this crowd?” he asks. The conversation turns to Fulton Sheen.
“Do you know Fulton Sheen?”
“No…”
So the priest begins to tell him.

ASIA/INDONESIA - After the earthquake: the dream of a safe home for hundreds of families in Flores

Thu, 24 Sep 2026 10:33:36 +0200

Maumere – More than a month after the earthquake that struck the island of Flores on 15 August 2026 , the emergency is not yet over. Tremors continue, albeit with less intensity, and many families are still spending the night in tents for fear of returning to their homes.

In the Manggarai region, one of the areas hardest hit, the Camillian Missionaries have reached around twenty villages, distributing food parcels to some 400 families and 100 tents to people who have lost or been forced to abandon their homes. “Our initial response focused above all on the most vulnerable families, particularly children and the elderly,” Father Luigi Galvani, MI, a missionary on the island of Kupang, told Fides.

The focus is now turning to reconstruction. “The emergency is far from over now that the initial relief efforts have ended,” the religious priest stressed. The Camillians intend to help around thirty families build homes that are simple but safer than tents and makeshift huts. The project envisages the construction of thirty houses, measuring approximately 3 by 5 metres or 4 by 6 metres, using bricks, cement, sand and metal sheets for the roofs.

Schools, too, continue to suffer the consequences of the earthquake: numerous institutions remain closed, while in some villages tents have been turned into temporary classrooms. In Ruteng, the hardest-hit area, the hospital has been declared unsafe, and patients and the injured are being cared for in a temporary facility set up with tents.

“The path to reconstruction will be long and demanding,” Father Galvani observed. Nevertheless, he added, “the people of Flores continue to look ahead with the strength of their faith and their trust in the solidarity” of those who wish to share in their suffering.

The Camillian Missionaries intend to remain alongside the affected families, supporting them in rebuilding their homes and community life. “Every brick donated, every tent, every food parcel, every gesture of solidarity,” Father Galvani concluded, can help make possible “a new miracle of missionary charity”.

AFRICA/GHANA - Bishops raise the alarm: Ghana is becoming a cocaine hub:

Wed, 23 Sep 2026 13:38:28 +0200

Accra – “The seizure in France of a large shipment of cocaine from Ghana must not be treated as an isolated incident, but as part of a wider problem,” the Bishops of Ghana said following the seizure by French customs authorities on 10 September of 3.9 tonnes of cocaine, with an estimated value of €225 million . The drugs were hidden inside a container carrying plastic waste, which had arrived at the northern French port of Dunkirk from Ghana.

“This seizure is one episode within a wider problem. Ghana’s geographical position and participation in international trade make vigilance at our ports, airports and borders especially important,” said the statement signed by Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi, Bishop of Sunyani and President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference .

Ghana is not only a transit country used by drug traffickers, but has also become a country where drugs are consumed. “We are equally troubled by the domestic face of this menace: drug abuse among young people, the corrosive effect of drug money on our institutions, and the temptation it poses to persons in positions of trust, whether in commerce, the security services or, we say with sorrow, within the Church herself,” the Bishops said.

After appealing to the authorities to step up the fight against drug trafficking and help people struggling with drug addiction to escape their “ordeal”, the GCBC stressed that “this battle cannot be left to the Government alone”.

“We call upon Catholic parishes, schools and youth organisations to intensify drug-prevention education, mentorship and pastoral accompaniment, and urge priests, consecrated persons, catechists and lay leaders to address the issue courageously in their preaching and catechesis,” the statement continued.

Addressing young people directly, the Bishops concluded with an appeal: “Do not be deceived by the temporary gains promised by the drug trade. Choose life. Build your future upon honest work, faith, education, virtue and service. Your dignity is beyond price, and the Church stands ready to accompany you.”

ASIA/SRI LANKA - Easter bombings: “Towards Truth and Justice”

Wed, 23 Sep 2026 13:24:49 +0200

Colombo – “It is a wound that is slowly healing. The healing process is underway. With this verdict, we can say that we are moving in the direction of truth and justice, since those who carried out the massacre and some of its co-organizers have been identified. There is still a second part to be established, to understand which individuals facilitated the massacre to gain political advantage and seize power”: this is the comment given to Fides News Agency by Fr. Jude Chrysantha Fernando, a priest from Colombo and Director of the Communications and Media Office of the Archdiocese of Colombo, following yesterday’s verdict by the High Court of Sri Lanka, which convicted 15 of the 24 defendants in the trial over the 21 April 2019 massacres . At the time, suicide bombers targeted three churches and three luxury hotels, killing 279 people, including 45 foreigners.

The 15 defendants were sentenced to terms ranging from 200 to 260 years in prison. The court also ordered the confiscation of their assets and other property. They were the perpetrators who carried out the massacre: “They are people of Muslim faith who used their faith as an ideology to kill,” Fr Fernando noted. Nine other defendants were acquitted “for lack of sufficient evidence”, the priest pointed out. He was present in court yesterday for the reading of the verdict.

“However,” he continued, “this is a first step toward achieving full truth and justice, but the road ahead is still long.” Among those convicted is the head of the State Intelligence Service, a key figure who “should reveal those who commissioned the attacks and the links with politics, but has so far failed to do so, in order to establish the responsibility of those who allowed or facilitated the attacks in order to seize power,” Fr Fernando explained. The authorities are conducting a separate investigation into alleged links between elements of the state apparatus and those responsible for the attacks.

Fr Chrysantha Fernando spoke about the victims’ families: “Some of them were outside the court, and in some way they have obtained justice because they learned that those who killed their children or relatives will be punished. It should be said that the families have already received compensation from the State as well as assistance from the Catholic Church. Some of those who lost their wives or husbands have rebuilt their lives by remarrying. It is a sign that life goes on. We must never lose hope, which comes to us from God,” he said.

In some churches and communities in Colombo, commemorations were held to honor and remember the victims of the Easter attacks, in an atmosphere of profound emotion.
Among them were 167 Catholic faithful killed in St Anthony’s Church in Colombo and St Sebastian’s Church in Negombo while attending Easter Mass. They have been included in the Catalogue of “Witnesses of Faith” of the 21st century, compiled by the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints and presented during the 2025 Jubilee Year by the Commission for new martyrs and witnesses of the faith.

AFRICA/ETHIOPIA - New rebel alliance reignites the struggle over the Red Sea

Wed, 23 Sep 2026 12:54:20 +0200

Addis Ababa – The rebel coalition announced a few days ago has gone on the offensive, and one of its main components, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front , has captured Mekelle airport.

On September 20, seven Ethiopian armed groups—including historic enemies who fought on opposing sides during the 2020–2022 civil war—announced the formation of an alliance aimed at overthrowing Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government. The Ethiopian People’s Forces Alliance for Survival brings together a diverse coalition of groups from different parts of the country: from Tigray in the north to the Fano militias in Amhara, the Oromo Liberation Army and other armed groups. Some of these formations have fought one another in the past, but for the time being they have set aside their differences to unite against the central government.

The alliance’s stated objective is to overthrow the federal government and establish a transitional administration. The groups involved regard Abiy Ahmed’s rule as a direct threat to the survival of their respective communities.

The government in Addis Ababa has said that the members of the alliance had been cooperating for some time with financial support from Eritrea. The conflict in Ethiopia could therefore reignite and draw in a significant part of the Federation, with possible repercussions for the wider regional balance of power.

Ethiopia is, in fact, a strategically important hinterland from which the balance of power among the countries bordering the Red Sea can be influenced. First and foremost there is Eritrea, which was already involved in the Tigray conflict. Then there is Sudan, where, according to various allegations, supplies to the Rapid Support Forces are reportedly being delivered from bases in Ethiopia, and where drone attacks against Sudanese army targets may also have been launched from Ethiopian territory .

Finally, there are Djibouti and Somaliland, the northern region of Somalia that unilaterally declared independence in 1991 and has so far been recognized only by Israel. Israel appears already to have a military facility in Somaliland and, according to an investigation by Haaretz, hosts an Eritrean opposition group in Tel Aviv.

Developments in the Ethiopian crisis are closely connected to events on the Asian side of the Red Sea, which inevitably have repercussions on the African side of this strategic maritime corridor. While Yemen’s Houthis now control access to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, major and middle powers are moving to consolidate and expand their presence along the African shore.

China is expanding its military base in Djibouti, the only overseas military installation that Beijing officially acknowledges, raising concerns in France, the United States, Japan and Italy, which also maintain bases in the small but strategically important African country.

Such concerns may have prompted Washington to seek additional footholds in the region. Eritrea could be one of them. In recent days, the United States has lifted sanctions previously imposed on the Eritrean military and other entities. The decision by the Trump administration has been interpreted as an attempt to strengthen relations with Asmara.

The sanctions had been imposed by the administration of Joe Biden in 2021 on the ruling party, the Eritrean armed forces and several senior officials, over their role in the war in neighbouring Ethiopia, where Eritrean forces supported Ethiopian troops fighting the local authorities in the northern Tigray region.

Washington is also active in Puntland, the autonomous region of Somalia that is at loggerheads with the government based in Mogadishu .

Developments in Ethiopia could therefore have repercussions far beyond the country’s borders, involving the African states bordering the Red Sea and, more broadly, the strategic balance of one of the world’s principal maritime corridors.

BEATIFICATION OF FULTON SHEEN/V - Peoria: Cardinal Tagle in the future Blessed’s hometown: He shows us the way to missionary conversion

Wed, 23 Sep 2026 12:39:58 +0200

by Marie-Lucile Kubacki

Peoria – In the stillness of the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception, the revival-gothic-style church that rises above Peoria’s streets, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle celebrated Mass on the morning of September 22, beside the tomb of Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen.

It was in this cathedral that Sheen was ordained a priest in 1919, and where his mortal remains have rested since 2019. Two days before his beatification in St. Louis, the place became both a shrine of memory and a summons to mission.

Cardinal Tagle, Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization , came as the papal representative who will preside over the beatification Mass on September 24.

Before the faithful of Peoria, he linked the forthcoming celebration not merely to the honour due to one of the city’s sons, but to a concrete responsibility for the local Church.
“We praise and thank the Lord who has gathered us and has formed us as one community, a family of faith,” he said at the beginning of his homily. He described the cathedral as made “more beautiful by the presence of the soon-to-be beatified Fulton Sheen,” while warning that such a grace carries a demand.

“This is a grace for all of us here, but also a heavy responsibility,” Cardinal Tagle said. “From now on, when people learn that you are from Peoria, they will say: ‘Oh, are you as missionary-oriented as Bishop Fulton Sheen? Are you deeply entrenched in the Word of God like the Blessed Fulton Sheen?’”

The Cardinal’s tone was warm and at times playful, but his appeal was clear: in its deep signification, the beatification is not a local distinction but a call to conversion and evangelization. “As every grace comes to us from the Lord, there is a corresponding responsibility,” he insisted.

Meditating on the Gospel in which Jesus is told that his mother and brothers are outside seeking him, Cardinal Tagle placed the central question of the homily before the congregation: what is the family of Christ? Jesus, he said, does not reject the natural or biological family. “He does not disdain, he does not negate the biological family,” the Cardinal explained. “But he expands the understanding of family.“Who are my mother, my brothers and sisters? Those who listen to the Word of God and act on it. They are my mother, my brothers, and my sisters,” he said, quoting the Gospel.

This “blended family” is not based on ancestry, place of birth or local prestige, but on hearing and putting the Word of God into practice. Cardinal Tagle jokingly asked the faithful: “So, after the beatification, please do not say to people from Chicago, ‘Has Chicago produced a blessed?’ ‘Oh no, we are from Peoria. We belong to the family favored by the Lord. Oh, poor Chicago.’”. Before adding : “No one denies the fact that our venerable servant of God, blessed, was here from, was incarnated as a priest here. But then, as we affirm the natural lineage, in the eyes of the Lord, there is something else that He is looking for.”

The Cardinal then turned his attention to Mary, the Mother of Jesus. Far from diminishing her, Jesus’ words reveal the depth of her vocation, he said. Mary is not only the biological mother of Jesus: she is mother because she is first a disciple, because she listened to God’s word and made herself available to it. “His mother was really a disciple, a mother-disciple,” Cardinal Tagle said. “Because she is a disciple, she is mother. And she is truly mother because she lived her discipleship truly and fully.”

In the figure of Fulton Sheen, celebrated worldwide as a pioneer of Catholic communication, this call took on a particular missionary force. The Cardinal recalled Sheen not simply for his Peoria roots or his mastery of the media, but for a priestly life grounded in the word of God and directed towards mission.

The intercessions at the end of Mass prayed for missionaries sent “to proclaim the Gospel to the ends of the earth,” and for all who teach or preach through “every means of communication,” that salvation may be announced “with integrity and courage.”

Cardinal Tagle concluded by returning to Peoria’s vocation. “Then Peoria becomes part of the wider family, the wider family of God,” he said. “And Jesus will be pleased.” The city, he added, should be recognized not only as Fulton Sheen’s birthplace, but as a community whose members listen to the word of God and act upon it.

In the early evening, in the same cathedral, the novena continued with a Holy Hour dedicated to mission. It was led by Father Dinh Anh Nhue Nguyen, OFM Conv., Secretary General of the Pontifical Missionary Union, who guided the faithful in prayer.

Fulton Sheen, Father Anh Nhue stressed as he introduced the time of prayer and missionary reflection, “was not only a great preacher, a communicator, or a man of the media. He was a man consumed by the missionary fire, a missionary animator, a missionary formator, a passionate promoter and supporter of the missions.” His missionary passion, he added, “did not end with his earthly life. His missionary legacy continues to bear fruit today. His voice continues to evangelize.”
“His writings and recordings continue to form. His witness continues to awaken missionary hearts.”

Thus, the Vietnamese Franciscan and Secretary General of the Pontifical Missionary Union, guided the faithful in prayer as Peoria entered the final forty-eight hours before the Church proclaims Fulton J. Sheen “Blessed.”

Link correlati :Prayer/Reﬂection - Fr Dinh Anh Nhue Nguyen OFMConv

ASIA/BAHRAIN - San Francesco 800: Music and fraternity at the Cathedral in Awali to celebrate the Poverello of Assisi

Wed, 23 Sep 2026 11:54:10 +0200

Awali – Music as a language of faith, the memory of St Francis as an opportunity for encounter, and dialogue as a path towards building peace. These were the themes at the heart of “San Francesco 800 – A Musical Journey of Faith,” an event held in recent days at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Arabia in Awali, Kingdom of Bahrain, to mark the eighth centenary of the death of the Poverello of Assisi.

“It was a beautiful event, a moment to remember in the history of the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia,” Father Marcus Fernandes, OFM Cap., who conceived and developed the musical program, told Fides. During the evening, music, storytelling and community participation retraced the life and spiritual journey of Saint Francis. The musical presentation brought together 21 musicians, more than 42 adult singers and 17 children, who performed together.

The guests were welcomed by the Apostolic Vicar of Northern Arabia, Bishop Aldo Berardi, O.SS.T., who spoke of Saint Francis’ deep love for God and his desire to offer everything in praise and service of the Lord. The Bishop also highlighted the significance of the Transitus of Saint Francis, the moment in which the saint entrusted his life to the Lord.

The celebration was honoured by the presence of distinguished guests from Bahrain’s cultural and diplomatic community, including a representative of the King Hamad Global Centre for Peaceful Coexistence, as well as the Ambassadors of the Republic of Korea, Italy and the United States, and the Ambassadors of France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Philippines and Sri Lanka to the Kingdom of Bahrain.
Representatives of the Anglican and Indian Orthodox Churches were also present.

In his address, Bishop Berardi expressed his gratitude to His Majesty the King of Bahrain for his gracious hospitality. He also requested H.E. Dr. Shaikh Abdulla bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, Chairman of the King Hamad Global Centre for Coexistence and Tolerance, to convey his heartfelt thanks, prayers and best wishes.

“Peace is precious and fragile; it is protected by mercy, peaceful dialogue and care for each other,” the Apostolic Vicar told those present. His words provided a bridge to the subsequent reflection by Dr Shaikh Abdulla, who focused precisely on the value of dialogue through the figure of Saint Francis. At the heart of his address was the historic encounter in Egypt between Francis of Assisi and Sultan al-Malik al-Kamil, in a context marked by war and division. Two men from different faith traditions were able to meet with mutual respect and openness, offering a powerful example of dialogue and peaceful coexistence. “Dialogue requires courage,” Dr Shaikh Abdulla stressed, emphasizing that meaningful dialogue calls for openness, understanding and a willingness to engage despite differences. His remarks were particularly significant in the context of Bahrain, a country whose commitment to coexistence and tolerance was recalled by the President of the King Hamad Global Centre.
Father Michael Fernandes, OFM Cap., Custos of the Capuchin Custody of Arabia, also reflected on the life and personality of Saint Francis. He spoke of Francis’ ability to recognize God’s presence in creation and in every person. Fr. Michael noted that Francis’ life of simplicity together with his concern for creation, continues to inspire people well beyond the Franciscan family.

At the end of the evening, Father Marcus Fernandes expressed his heartfelt gratitude to all those who worked behind the scenes, as well as the community whose encouragement and support made the evening possible. “We did something beautiful today,” he said. The performance was the fruit of many hours of preparation, rehearsal and collaboration.

San Francesco 800 became more than a commemoration of an anniversary. It offered the community of the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia an opportunity to encounter the enduring message of Saint Francis through music, faith and fellowship, while highlighting a legacy that continues to inspire people across cultures and generations: a man who placed his relationship with God, fraternity, care for creation and encounter with others at the centre of his life. In the heart of Bahrain, the memory of Saint Francis thus also became an opportunity to reaffirm the value of dialogue and fraternity as concrete paths for safeguarding peace.

AFRICA/MOZAMBIQUE - Archbishop of Nampula to Catholic university graduates: “Science without conscience is simply the ruin of the soul”

Wed, 23 Sep 2026 10:51:17 +0200

Nampula – “Seeing young people who are well-educated and full of hope facing an uncertain future, precisely at a time when the country needs their skills, energy and talent most, is one of the most painful realities afflicting our beloved land.”

With these words, the Archbishop of Nampula, Dom Inácio Saure, IMC, drew attention to the problem of youth unemployment during the homily he delivered at the graduation ceremony for students of the Catholic University of Mozambique . The prelate, President of the Episcopal Conference of Mozambique , warned the newly graduated students against the risk of adding to the already significant number of qualified citizens who, despite years of study and sacrifice, are unable to find employment suited to their skills.

Unemployment among educated people, Dom Inácio stressed, is one of the issues affecting Mozambique’s social and economic reality. “Some of our young graduates, unfortunately, will join those who, despite years of study and sacrifice, find themselves without employment and without the opportunity to put their skills at the service of society.” The Archbishop therefore urged young people to make good use of the knowledge they acquired during their studies with awareness and a sense of responsibility, including in the face of the difficulties they may encounter in the world of work.
Education, he recalled, should not be regarded merely as a means of obtaining employment, but as a responsibility towards society and the common good.

During his speech, Dom Inácio also recalled the assassination of Dom Osório Citora Afonso, Bishop of Quelimane, Apostolic Administrator of the Archdiocese of Beira and Secretary General of the Episcopal Conference of Mozambique. Referring to the tragic case , the Archbishop denounced the continuing lack of clarity surrounding the circumstances of the prelate’s death, which occurred in Quelimane, and reiterated the need for the truth to finally come to light.
The Episcopal Conference of Mozambique, he recalled, has been in mourning since last June and, to date, no definitive answers have been provided regarding responsibility for or the motives behind the killing .

“Daring to speak the truth in Mozambique, without hiding one’s face, constitutes a great risk, the risk of one’s own life,” said the Archbishop of Nampula. In his address, Dom Inácio appealed to the competent authorities to shed full light on what happened and to provide information about those responsible for and the motives behind the killing of the man he described as a humble man of God and servant of the people.

“On a day of graduation at UCM, enlightened by the Word of God that we have heard, I think it would not be out of place to raise our voices and strongly urge the competent authorities of this country to abandon this shameful tendency and tell the truth to Mozambicans, to the Church and to the world about the case of Dom Osório,” he said.

In conclusion, the Archbishop made a particular appeal to the graduates, especially those who had studied law, urging them to place their education and skill at the service of society, with responsibility and integrity. “Science without conscience is simply the ruin of the soul. The same can be said of authority without dignity, which constitutes a true misfortune for the people,” Dom Inácio said.
To the students who had just completed their university studies, he expressed his hope that they would reach “the summit of conscience”, so that wherever they may find themselves—even in the difficult circumstances of unemployment, but especially when they have the opportunity to work—they may honour, through their commitment, the Catholic University of Mozambique, recognized for its quality and capacity for innovation.

The good seed of “Wecare” Missionary Experiences/I - Young hearts and the encounter with reality

Wed, 23 Sep 2026 10:33:44 +0200

by Laura Gómez Ruiz

Rome – Leaving home and one’s “comfort zones” for several weeks, venturing to another country and sharing time and work with people whose lives are very different. For some young people, holidays can become an experience of encounter and closeness with distant realities, where everything can become an opportunity to question themselves, others and the desires of their own hearts.
This is what often happens during the missionary experiences promoted by “Wecare”, an Italian initiative whose roots go back twenty years and which every year involves many young people in projects in Italy and other countries.

A Peruvian beginning

The story began in 2005, when Fernando Lozada Baldoceda, who initiated the volunteer experiences abroad and is now director of Wecare, organized a first trip to Peru with three university students. “It was the first attempt at a volunteering trip,” he recalls. In 2006, the experience began to take shape as a group and, over the following years, it grew to involve dozens of young people. In 2011, a legal framework was established to support the project and, after several stages of development and the expansion of its activities in Italy, Wecare was founded in its present form in 2023.

Camilla and Benedetta’s discoveries

For Fernando, these twenty years represent more than just the evolution of an organization; they tell the story of young people who discovered that they had a treasure to share and chose to get involved.

“There is much more joy in giving than in receiving,” says Camilla, from Rome, who, after taking part in an experience in Argentina in 2025, decided to set out again this year, this time for Brazil. “I chose to take part a second time because this experience does not only help others; it also helps me,” she explains. Meeting others, she says, allows one to “touch parts of yourself that you do not touch in everyday life” and to get to know oneself in a different way.

In Brazil, one of the encounters that left the deepest impression on her was with the community of Milan dos Coelhos. “What struck me most was the love that surrounded the community,” she recalls. In particular, she was moved by the way people cared for Evinho, an elderly member of the community. This made her realize that, although they had very little, they did not lack what, for her, is the most important value: “love for one's neighbor, closeness and selfless help.”

When she returned home, that experience had also changed the way she looked at her own life. “I came back with greater awareness and a greater desire to help others,” she says. The experience, she adds, “put my priorities into perspective” and helped her understand more clearly what is worth striving for. She also feels “more grateful for what I have and for what surrounds me.”
Benedetta, too, chose to set out again. After Peru in 2022 and Cameroon in 2025, this year she returned to Brazil. The phrase “There is more joy in giving than in receiving” has accompanied her experiences. “I feel lucky; I receive so much every day, and I wanted to understand what it really means to give,” she explains.

During the weeks of the experience, she says, “we strip ourselves of material things and live in order to give energy, love and smiles” to a community that has received far less. Yet the experience of gratuitous giving also has an impact on the group of volunteers themselves, involving them in the sense that they have become one family with the people they have come to meet and serve.
One of the moments she remembers most clearly is not tied to a specific activity, but to a scene that suddenly narrowed the distance she had perceived when she arrived.

While walking through a community in Recife, she saw houses built on stilts, barely supported above a river filled with rubbish. “I felt an enormous distance,” she recalls. Then she saw two barefoot girls and a small boy reaching for his sister’s hand. The gesture reminded her of her own childhood, when she would seek the attention of her older brother. In that moment, she recognized a part of herself in that child. “It made me realize that I could have been that child,” she says. “That is what Wecare does: it shortens the distance we perceive,” she explains.

After these experiences, Benedetta also learned to view vulnerability differently. “These people and children show their vulnerability with a smile,” she says. This helped her share her own weaknesses, joys and fears “without shame”, building a relationship of trust both with the community and with the other volunteers.

Nothing can be taken for granted or is “automatic”

For Fernando Lozada Baldoceda, this is precisely where one of the possibilities offered by these experiences lies. By leaving home and their usual comforts, young people find themselves in a different setting, alongside other young people and in direct contact with situations of poverty and hardship. This is accompanied by a process of reflection inspired by the Gospel. “Young people take part in projects that have a real and meaningful impact,” he observes. It is not simply a matter of carrying out a small activity in order to have the feeling of having contributed, but of being able to take part directly in concrete projects and “experience at first hand the help” that is given and received.

The good seed and clichés

Wecare describes this journey as an experience of “pre-evangelization”: it is not catechesis, but rather an invitation to raise challenging questions about one’s identity, love, friendship, suffering, happiness, mission and vocation.
Lozada Baldoceda stresses that none of this happens automatically. Each young person remains free in the way he or she lives the experience, in how far they allow themselves to be challenged by it and in what they subsequently choose to do with what they have discovered. In his words, the journey is a “favourable context” in which to look within oneself. But “nothing is automatic; everything depends on each person’s freedom, on whether they wish to make good use of their time, be generous and look deep within themselves.”

The experience, moreover, does not claim to produce an immediate transformation. Two weeks cannot change overnight a way of thinking and living that has taken shape over many years. What Fernando sees is something more intimate and discreet: “a greater awareness of who each young person is, deeper sense of gratitude and a new possibility of looking at one’s own life with mercy and recognizing its value.”

It is like a seed, he explains. “Something is sown” and will then bear fruit “in each young person’s own time and according to the way they care for that seed”. What remains does not necessarily have to translate immediately into a new activity or a visible decision. “The hope is that an awareness of the precious value of one’s own life, and of the beautiful things that can be done with it, will remain in the heart,” he says.
After so many years spent accompanying these experiences, his view of young people is also free from prejudice and clichés about the “generation incapable of commitment”. Fernando does not believe that among the younger generations the desire to be happy, to do good and to live life to the full has died out. “If young people are criticized, it is not because their hearts do not desire to live to the full, to do good things and to do beautiful things,” he says.

“If adults do everything for them,” he explains, “they may end up not trusting young people’s ability to face difficulties, take responsibility and grow independently.” The role of adults, instead, should be to accompany them and create the conditions in which they can freely choose a life given in service to others.

Camilla returned from Brazil with different priorities, while Benedetta discovered that an apparently simple scene could make the distance between two worlds disappear. Through two different stories, their experiences illustrate what Fernando has seen repeated over the years: when young people are given a real opportunity to serve, encounter others and face difficulties, a capacity for self-giving also emerges that is not always visible in everyday life.
The experience, then, does not necessarily end when the journey comes to an end. What may remain is a question, a sense of gratitude, a new way of looking at things—or simply a seed that still needs time to grow.

Link correlati :Wecare website:

ASIA/SRI LANKA - Easter attacks verdict: 15 of 24 defendants convicted

Tue, 22 Sep 2026 16:37:55 +0200

Colombo – Fifteen of the 24 defendants have been convicted in the trial concerning the attacks of 21 April 2019, Easter Sunday, which targeted three churches and three luxury hotels in Sri Lanka, killing 279 people, including 45 foreigners. Today, 22 September, the Colombo High Court delivered its verdict against 15 men accused of involvement in the attacks.
Among those found guilty is Mohamed Naufer Moulavi, identified by the prosecution as a key figure linked to the organization of the attacks. The other nine defendants were acquitted and ordered to be released.
The court handed down its verdict at the conclusion of a trial that lasted nearly five years and involved more than 23,270 charges relating to the attacks, including murder, conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism, and the possession of firearms and explosives under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. The verdict and relevant sentences in what has been the main criminal proceeding against those accused of planning or co-organizing the attacks, the deadliest attacks against civilians in Sri Lanka’s history.

Mohamed Naufer Moulavi was identified as the leader of the group that provided support to the eight-member suicide commando that carried out the attacks. The trial took place alongside a separate investigation into allegations that certain elements within Sri Lanka’s state apparatus may have had links to those responsible for the attacks. According to evidence presented during the trial, investigators allege that the network was created to generate a security threat that would strengthen political support for the Rajapaksa family. Gotabaya Rajapaksa, a former defence minister, was elected president several months after the attacks. According to the theory developed by investigators, the aim was to create chaos and present Rajapaksa – the politician who led the country to victory over the Tamil separatist rebels in 2009 – as the leader best suited to restore security. Rajapaksa and his supporters have rejected allegations of involvement.

Given the massacres at the churches, the trial has directly involved Sri Lanka’s Catholic community which, under the leadership of Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, Archbishop of Colombo, has consistently reiterated its call for “truth and justice”. Catholics have repeatedly called for those who ordered the attacks, as well as any political or intelligence complicity and the sources of funding and training for the terrorists, to be identified.
In recent years, they have persistently called for the appointment of an independent prosecutor to accelerate the investigations and ensure their impartiality, stressing the urgency of the matter to the Rajapaksa and Wickremesinghe governments and, more recently, to the government of Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who was elected in 2024. They have also repeatedly reminded political leaders of their commitment to uncovering the truth.
This campaign has included demonstrations, human chains, commemorative masses and prayer gatherings, and has brought the issue to the international level. At the same time, Catholics have always defended interreligious coexistence and urged the faithful not to seek revenge against the Muslim community, stressing that the attacks must not lead to ethnic or religious conflict.

AFRICA/SOUTH SUDAN - Auxiliary Bishop of Juba: “How do you conduct elections without a census and a constitution?”

Tue, 22 Sep 2026 14:38:53 +0200

Juba – “How can elections be held if there is no population census and no permanent Constitution?” asked Msgr. Santo Loku Pio Doggale, Auxiliary Bishop of Juba, the capital of South Sudan, speaking at a Church event last week.
“Now they want to conduct elections, but there is no census—unless they conducted it secretly, because elections cannot be conducted without knowing the size of the population,” Bishop Doggale said. “They want to conduct elections when the country does not have a permanent constitution. How do you conduct elections without a census and a constitution? These two things are the foundations of elections,” he stressed.
“It is through a census that geographical locations and population distribution are determined. You have wasted the time of the people of South Sudan since 2005, but God is great, and He will listen to our patience,” the Auxiliary Bishop of Juba added.
On 1 September 2026, South Sudan’s Transitional National Legislative Assembly approved, during a closed-door session, Bill No. 13 of 2026, amending the 2011 Transitional Constitution of South Sudan. Journalists and members of the public were ordered to leave the chamber on the instructions of the Speaker, who cited national security concerns. The legislative process was completed in a single day, and the bill was approved unanimously.
Two days later, President Salva Kiir signed Amendment N0 13 to the transitional constitution, removing the legal requirement for a population census and a permanent constitution before elections.
The measure amends provisions of the Transitional Constitution in order to remove two requirements set out in the 2018 Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan as prerequisites for the holding of general elections: the completion of a national population and housing census and the adoption of a permanent Constitution.
Elections can now proceed under the amended Transitional Constitution. The census and the process of drafting the permanent Constitution have been postponed until after the elections, leaving them to be addressed by a future elected government.
The government has presented the move as a measure aimed at removing legal obstacles and thereby allowing the elections scheduled for 22 December 2026 to go ahead. These will be the first general elections in South Sudan since the country gained independence in 2011.

100 YEARS SINCE THE ORDINATION OF THE FIRST SIX CHINESE BISHOPS/1 - Odorico Cheng Hede and the Diocese of Puchi

Tue, 22 Sep 2026 14:06:26 +0200

One hundred years after the ordination of the first six Chinese bishops of the modern era , Fides News Agency is dedicating a series of documentary profiles on these Successors of the Apostles and the dioceses entrusted to them. Their ordination marked a crucial moment in the history of the Catholic Church in China.

§§§

by Prof. Liu Zhiqing

Puchi – The Apostolic Prefecture of Puchi was the first ecclesiastical circumscription of the Catholic Church in China entrusted to the leadership of a Chinese cleric. It was established on December 12, 1923. Its first bishop, Odorico Cheng Hede , was one of the six Chinese bishops ordained by Pope Pius XI in the Vatican Basilica on October 28, 1926. Before his episcopal ordination, he had been appointed Apostolic Prefect on March 21, 1924, and Pope Pius XI appointed him bishop-elect on June 24, 1926.

1. History of the Diocese

In 1922, soon after arriving in China as the first Apostolic Delegate, Archbishop Celso Costantini began working intensively to establish ecclesiastical circumpscriptions that could be entrusted to the Chinese clergy. He later wrote in his book With the Missionaries in China, 1922–1933: Memories of events and ideas:
“I suggested to Rome that the time had come to establish one or two indigenous dioceses. In this way, some Chinese bishops could participate as official representatives at the National Council .”
On his arrival in China, Costantini established his base in Hankou and, for geographical reasons, maintained frequent contact with the Apostolic Vicariate of Hankou. Furthermore, as they were both from Italy, he developed a particularly cordial relationship with Gratianus Gennaro , an Italian Franciscan and Apostolic Vicar of Hankou.
Costantini thus learned that “the Apostolic Vicariate intended to entrust ten districts situated south of the Yangtze River to the American Franciscans.” He therefore thought of “assigning four of these districts to the establishment of a diocese to be entrusted to a Chinese bishop, with Puchi at its centre, where the Church’s work had already laid some foundations.”
Costantini therefore focused his efforts on trying to persuade the Apostolic Vicar of Hankou to support this plan. He later recalled: “I tried to persuade Gennaro to approve the initiative of establishing an indigenous diocese. He was surprised and, after raising some difficulties, concluded: ‘Chinese priests have no legal standing in China and are not respected by the Chinese authorities. But if Rome wishes it, we can do nothing but obey.’”

On December 12, 1923, the Apostolic Prefecture of Puchi was established after being separated from the Apostolic Vicariate of Eastern Hubei . The latter was administered by Italian Franciscans and in 1923 comprised five prefectures: Wuchang, Hanyang, Huangzhou , De’an and Anlu. The territory was organized into five deaneries: Wuchang, Hanyang, Anlu, De’an and Huangzhou.
There were 97 priests working in the vicariate: 74 foreigners and 23 Chinese. Chinese priests therefore accounted for 23.71 percent of the clergy, a relatively low percentage that placed the Vicariate 39th among the 57 Apostolic Vicariates and Apostolic Prefectures then existing in China.

Three new mission territories were created from the Apostolic Vicariate of Eastern Hubei. The Apostolic Vicariate of Hankou had 54 parishes with resident priests and 43,914 baptized Catholics.
In December 1923, simultaneously with the Apostolic Prefecture of Puchi, the Apostolic Prefecture of Wuchang was also established and entrusted to the American Franciscans, while the Apostolic Prefecture of Hanyang was entrusted to the Missionary Society of St. Columban .

The Apostolic Prefectures of Puchi and Wuchang were both formed from the Wuchang Deanery of the Apostolic Vicariate of Eastern Hubei, while the Deanery of Hanyang became the territory of the Apostolic Prefecture of Hanyang.
According to available statistics, in 1923 the Wuchang Deanery of the Apostolic Vicariate of Eastern Hubei comprised ten districts. The future Apostolic Prefecture of Puchi included the four districts of Puchi, Jiayu , Chongyang and Tongcheng . That year there was only one parish, in Chongyang, with one Chinese priest and 729 faithful.
The future Apostolic Prefecture of Wuchang included Wuchang, Xianning , Echeng , Daye , Tongshan and Xingguo , with six parishes and 2,793 faithful. The Deanery of Hanyang had 7,689 faithful.
Thus, on December 12, 1923, the Apostolic Prefecture of Puchi was established. In the history of the Church in China, it is regarded as the first ecclesiastical circumscription entrusted to a member of the indigenous Chinese clergy. That year, it had 866 baptized Catholics, with seven Chinese priests and one Italian priest engaged in pastoral ministry.

The material resources of the new Apostolic Prefecture were practically non-existent, and missionary work was extremely difficult. To support the new territory, the Apostolic Vicariate of Eastern Hubei allocated 100,000 silver taels for evangelization activities.
On May 10, 1951, the Apostolic Prefecture of Puchi was elevated to a diocese, comprising the four districts of Jiayu, Puchi, Chongyang and Tongcheng.
According to statistics reported by Zhao Qingyuan in “Chronology of the division of Catholic Dioceses in China and the succession of their leaders,” the diocese had 19 churches and chapels, 10 Chinese priests and 5,046 baptized Catholics.

2. The Bishops of the Diocese

The first bishop of the Apostolic Prefecture of Puchi was Odorico Cheng Hede , a Franciscan of the Order of Friars Minor .
Odorico Cheng Hede was born on July 22, 1873, in Laohekou, Hubei Province. He initially attended the school in Chayuangou and, at the age of ten, was sent to Italy with another Franciscan seminarian to receive his formation.
On August 7, 1894, he entered the Order of Friars Minor at La Verna, Italy, and was ordained a priest on July 5, 1900. In January 1903, he returned to China to devote himself to missionary work. From 1907, he served as vice-rector of the minor seminary in Chayuangou, a position he held for a total of 14 years.
Odorico had a particular talent for sacred music and enjoyed reading historical works. He translated the Rule of the Franciscan Order into Chinese and wrote an Italian grammar for Chinese students. He also wrote The Joint Biography of the Blessed Martyrs Liu Fangji and Dong Wenxue—the Chinese names of the two martyrs, St Francis Fernández de Capillas and St Jean-Gabriel Perboyre—which was published by the Xujiahui Church printing press in Shanghai.
On March 21, 1924, he was appointed Apostolic Prefect of the Apostolic Prefecture of Puchi, becoming the first Chinese Apostolic Prefect. Although Cheng Hede held this office as a priest and was not yet a bishop, his appointment was nevertheless an important event for the Church in China, 250 years after the episcopal ordination of the Dominican Gregory Luo Wenzao, which took place in 1674.
In 1924, Cheng Hede took part, together with another Chinese Apostolic Prefect, in the Primum Concilium Sinense, the Council of the Catholic Church in China, convened in Shanghai.
On June 24, 1926, he was appointed titular bishop of Catenna. On October 28, 1926, in St Peter’s Basilica in Rome, he was ordained a bishop by Pope Pius XI, becoming one of the first six Chinese bishops ordained in the modern era.
He died on November 14, 1928, at the age of 55.
After his death, Joseph Zhang Jingxiu was appointed Apostolic Prefect of Puchi on April 16, 1929. He died on April 20, 1941.
On February 23, 1949, another Franciscan, Joseph Li Daonan, O.F.M. , was appointed Apostolic Prefect of Puchi. On May 10, 1951, when the Apostolic Prefecture was elevated to the rank of a diocese, Li Daonan became Bishop of the Diocese of Puchi. He died in 1971.

3. Development of the Diocese

At the time of its establishment, the Diocese of Puchi had very limited resources and a relatively small territory, comprising only four districts. Initially, there was only one parish in the area, in Chongyang, which belonged to the Deanery of Wuchang.
After 27 years of development, the number of baptized Catholics had risen to 5,351, while the diocese had 10 Chinese priests and 10 Chinese religious women. Overall, however, the development of the diocese’s pastoral activities remained relatively modest and did not reach particularly satisfactory levels.

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Link correlati :Statistical table of the pastoral activities of the Diocese of Puchi, 1923–1950

EUROPE/POLAND - Mission seeks new paths: the message that emerged from the autumn meeting of the Pontifical Mission Societies

Tue, 22 Sep 2026 11:51:29 +0200

Warsaw – Mission cannot remain tied only to forms that belong to a bygone era. It needs new energy to involve the entire Church community. This was one of the messages that emerged from the autumn meeting of the Pontifical Mission Societies and missionary communities, held in Warsaw last week.
More than 80 participants gathered to reflect on the future of missionary animation in Poland and to prepare for the centenary of World Mission Day, which will be celebrated on October 18, 2026. The discussion was opened by Bishop Jan Piotrowski, President of the Commission for Missions of the Polish Bishops' Conference.
“Mission is not something added to the life of the Church; it belongs to the very essence of the Church,” Bishop Piotrowski said, calling for a renewed missionary awareness and for new ways of proclaiming the Gospel. “We cannot simply remain tied to the forms of the past,” he stressed, pointing to the ability to take another step forward as one of the challenges facing the Church today.

Not recipients, but collaborators

One of the points emphasized during the meeting concerned the way of looking at the Churches in mission territories. They are not simply recipients of aid, but collaborators in proclaiming the Gospel.
Missionary responsibility, it was recalled, is not limited to material support. It also includes prayer, formation, missionary animation and cooperation. For this reason, cooperation among dioceses, religious congregations, the Pontifical Mission Societies , missionary organizations and lay people is essential.
In the words of Bishop Piotrowski, this network of relationships should make the missions not a burden for the Church, but a “star” capable of indicating the path of faith, evangelization, solidarity, and openness to others.

The importance of encounter

In an age dominated by remote communication, the meeting in Warsaw brought a simple word back to the center: encounter.
Father Maciej Będziński, national director of the Polish Pontifical Mission Societies, noted that emails, video conferences and artificial intelligence now make carrying out many activities without meeting in person possible. But true cooperation, he stressed, requires relationships and presence.

Helena Kmieć: holiness lived in everyday life

One of the most significant moments of the meeting was the reflection on the witness of Helena Kmieć, a young Polish lay woman whose cause for beatification is underway.
Born in 1991 in Libiąż, in southern Poland, Helena was killed in 2017 in Cochabamba, Bolivia, while serving in a home for children. Her missionary experience had already taken her to Hungary, Romania and Zambia, as well as Bolivia.
Her story was presented as a particularly meaningful witness for young people. A student, worker, volunteer and lay woman actively involved in the life of the Church, Helena lived her faith in the midst of everyday life.

Forming people for mission, from seminarians to children

The meeting was also an opportunity to present the activities of the PMS for the coming year.
The Pontifical Society of St Peter the Apostle will continue, for the fourteenth year, its “Adopt a Missionary Seminarian” initiative, which provides spiritual and material support for vocations in mission territories. In the new year, the initiative will involve the Major Seminary of the Archdiocese of Bamenda in Cameroon, as well as the seminaries of Moramanga in Madagascar and Chabua, India.
The Pontifical Missionary Union , meanwhile, presented the “Missionary Academy”, a three-semester program devoted to missionary spirituality.
The Pontifical Society for the Propagation of the Faith placed particular emphasis on missionary animation and initiatives related to the centenary of World Mission Sunday.
For children, the Pontifical Society of Missionary Childhood has prepared the “Universe of Holiness” program, aimed at helping them learn about saints and blesseds and growing in faith. The “Missionary Carol Singers 2026/2027” initiative will also continue; this year, it will support children in the Holy Land.
As the centenary of World Mission Sunday approaches, the meeting in Warsaw has given the Church in Poland a clear direction: to renew the missionary spirit and strengthen cooperation with local Churches, while seeking new forms of participation and new ways of proclaiming the Gospel.
A mission that is truly missionary is called to involve the entire ecclesial community.

BEATIFICATION OF FULTON SHEEN/IV - Sons and Daughters of the same Father. Fulton Sheen and racial segregation

Tue, 22 Sep 2026 11:24:37 +0200

by Marie-Lucile Kubacki

Rochester – “All around us there are people who never stop hating someone or something, shouting: 'Down with capitalism! Down with labor unions! Down with religion! Down with government! Down with economic royalists! Down with property! Down with this class! Down with that class!' But I say 'Up from class hate! Up from all hate! Let us stop downing things, and start looking up, up, up, up to God!’”
Fulton J. Sheen delivered these famous words in Los Angeles during the Second World War, in an appeal for peace among Jews, Protestants and Catholics to counter the impulse towards collective hostility. They also offer a glimpse into a less explored aspect of this American prelate’s public witness: his longstanding opposition to racial discrimination, expressed well before the civil rights legislation of the 1960s.

A maternity hospital for Black mothers

In 1938, the Catholic priest received an inheritance from Duchess Brady, a benefactor whom he had met in Lourdes. Thomas C. Reeves writes in *America’s Bishop: The Life and Times of Fulton J. Sheen* that Sheen allocated a substantial portion of this sum to the Diocese of Mobile, in Alabama, to help the Sisters of Mercy to use the funds to build a small maternity ward for Black mothers. In Mobile, where segregation prevailed, Black mothers were excluded from hospitals reserved for white patients. The program supported by these funds was later associated with Martin de Porres Hospital. The initiative expanded over time. In 1950, a larger hospital facility opened following a major fundraising campaign in which Sheen continued to take part. Reeves also reports that Sheen’s interest in the project was connected to Fanny Washington, his African-American cook and housekeeper.

Over the following years, Sheen donated the royalties from his books and the fees he received for public appearances to Catholic initiatives and institutions in Alabama. These included his support for the Mission of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Hillview, Alabama, as well as contributions to chapels and itinerant missionary projects in North Carolina and Texas.
In 1942, after receiving an invitation from a Black woman, he travelled to a small town in North Carolina, where he preached a mission on the steps of the local public school. A year later, he crossed Alabama with a priest in a trailer, speaking “on street corners and in cornfields to anyone who would listen,” Reeves writes.
These episodes took place at a time when Black Catholics often lived on the margins of American ecclesial and civic life. They showed Sheen’s determination to place his influence, the money he raised and his public visibility at the service of communities that had very limited access to such resources.

From Mobile to Rochester

The concrete help Sheen offered Black Catholic communities was rooted in a broader moral and theological conviction. Human rights, as he argued in *A Declaration of Dependence* , did not originate from the government and could not be subordinated to the preferences of a majority. Their foundation was the dignity of the human person before God. Public authorities, in this regard, could recognize and protect rights; they could not, by any elementary standard of justice, assign less value to one group of people than to another.
Rooted in the Christian tradition, this vision led Sheen to regard racial prejudice as a refusal, first and foremost, to recognize the other as a child of God.

When Sheen became Bishop of Rochester in 1966, he arrived in a city marked by the consequences of racial inequality in the North. The riots of July 1964 had brought to the surface anger unleashed by police practices, housing conditions, employment and exclusion from the economic benefits of an industrial city. Catholic organizations in Rochester had already begun to respond: the Catholic Interracial Council had been established in 1960, while diocesan initiatives provided assistance to Black children and Puerto Rican families. During his episcopate, Sheen gave visible support to many of these causes. The Catholic press in Rochester reported that, between 1967 and 1968, he himself founded an organization that later gave rise to the Bishop Sheen Ecumenical Housing Foundation, an affordable housing agency that remains active in the region and seeks to address the shortage of decent housing for low-income residents.
Housing discrimination was not confined to the South. In Northern cities, it could persist through unequal access to rental accommodation, home sales, mortgages and credit, as well as through informal practices that restricted where families could live.

In Rochester, Sheen also became involved in the public debate over employment and racial exclusion at Eastman Kodak, the city’s largest private employer. An article published in *America* magazine lists him amongst those who were putting pressure on Kodak to improve access to training and employment for Black workers .

A missionary vision embracing all humanity

The international dimension of Sheen’s ministry reinforced this perspective. From 1950 to 1966, he served as national director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith in the United States. This role led him to speak to American Catholics about a Church that transcended cultures, languages and nations.

During his travels in 1960, he visited Argentina and Brazil, spending time in particular in Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro. In Rio, he noted the striking proximity between extreme wealth and extreme poverty: the contrast between the city’s prestigious coastal neighborhoods and the deprivation just a short distance away challenged any simplistic identification of economic and social success with moral virtue. He later travelled to Kenya, where he visited mission stations and communities afflicted by disease, isolation and profound insecurity. He celebrated Mass in a modest mission church with a clay-and-manure floor, and later recalled meeting a woman, the mother of ten children, who had been abandoned by her husband. His journey also took him to Johannesburg, where he witnessed apartheid at first hand. Accounts of the visit describe his determination, despite resistance from the authorities, to go and meet a Black catechist in an area subject to segregation.
At a missionary conference in St. Louis in 1953, Sheen explicitly linked the universal scope of the Catholic mission to the rejection of any hierarchy based on race. According to a retrospective account of the gathering published by the *National Catholic Register*, he told missionaries: “Pay no attention to race or skin color, for there are no inferior people in the world when they are children of grace through the sacraments.” In the same address, Sheen referred to Muslims’ belief in one God and their veneration of Jesus and Mary. He also spoke of China as a country that remained open to a renewal of faith, despite going through a difficult period.

Charity toward our “neighbor” whom we do not choose as neighbor

Fulton Sheen does not fit neatly into contemporary political categories. He was neither a civil-rights activist nor a theorist of structural racism, according to the terminology that emerged later within the movement. His commitment took the form of homilies, philanthropic initiatives, pastoral journeys and appeals to conscience. Yet these forms of action had significant repercussions in their historical context: supporting maternity care where segregation restricted Black women’s access to medical treatment; assisting missionary communities neglected by public institutions; and advocating for housing and employment in Rochester.
The career of Jerome Gary Cooper illustrates Sheen’s approach well. Raised in Mobile, Alabama—a city marked by segregation—Cooper entered the University of Notre Dame in 1954 thanks to a scholarship and graduated with a degree in finance four years later. He then enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, becoming, during the Vietnam War, the first African-American Marine officer to lead an infantry company in combat. He later rose to the rank of major general and was appointed United States Ambassador to Jamaica, where he served from 1994 to 1997.
The magazine *America* and the biographical database *BlackPast* report that a recommendation from Fulton Sheen helped Cooper obtain his scholarship to Notre Dame.
For Sheen, that person was ‘the neighbor’. Not the ‘neighbor’ we choose because he thinks like us or resembles us — according to the logic of algorithms that create false communities — but the person placed before us, often in an inconvenient way, often at the edge of the road. It is in this person, Sheen believed, that Christians can encounter the image of God by bearing witness to their faith in Christ

AFRICA/SOUTH SUDAN - International Day of Peace. Bishop of Tombura-Yambio: “Our wounds belong to our history; peace is the legacy we must leave to our children”

Mon, 21 Sep 2026 14:05:32 +0200

Tombura-Yambio – “Invest in peace: for everyone, everywhere, every day.” This is the heart of the message addressed to the peoples of Sudan and South Sudan by Bishop Barani Eduardo Hiiboro Kussala of Tombura-Yambio on the occasion of the International Day of Peace, celebrated today, 21 September.

“Peace is more than the absence of war. It requires justice, dignity, security, reconciliation and the courage to rebuild trust,” writes the Bishop, President of the Justice and Peace Commission of the Sudan and South Sudan Catholic Bishops’ Conference , in a statement sent to Fides. “Our peoples have carried wounds for too long. But our wounds belong to our history; peace is the legacy we must leave to our children.”

The message stems from the experience of populations marked by “conflict, displacement, grief and fear”, yet, the Bishop stresses, who “continue to hope”. He therefore calls for special prayers for the victims of violence, displaced families, refugees, children who grow up in fear, and all those who still bear the wounds of conflict.

At a particularly delicate moment for Sudan and South Sudan, Hiiboro addresses all sectors of society: political leaders, citizens, religious and traditional leaders, women and young people. “Let our differences never become reasons for violence,” he urges. “Let dialogue replace confrontation, and let public authority serve the common good.”
He makes a particular appeal with regard to the electoral processes for which the two countries are preparing. “May every citizen's dignity and rights be respected,” the Bishop says, calling for political participation that is “peaceful and free from fear, intimidation and violence”. He adds: “Political disagreement must never turn a neighbour into an enemy.”

Addressing young people in particular, the Bishop of Tombura-Yambio urges them not to inherit the legacy of hatred: “Do not inherit the hatred of yesterday. Build bridges across communities and differences. Choose education, faith, service and reconciliation over violence.”
His appeal extends to families, Churches, mosques, traditional leaders and the media, all of whom are called to become “builders of peace”. “Our words and actions can either deepen wounds or help heal them,” the Bishop stresses.

In conclusion, Hiiboro entrusts the peoples of Sudan and South Sudan, and all those committed to building peace, to God: “May God comfort the grieving, heal the wounded, protect the vulnerable, enlighten our leaders and strengthen all who work for justice, reconciliation and peace.”
“May Sudan find peace. May South Sudan find peace. May Africa find peace,” he concludes. “Let us begin where peace begins: peace begins with me. Peace begins with you. Peace begins with us. May the Lord make us instruments of His peace.”

The seed of the Gospel and mission: Archbishop Sangalli concludes the formation Course for bishops in Nemi with a meditation on St Charles de Foucauld

Mon, 21 Sep 2026 13:52:33 +0200

Nemi – The permanent formation of bishops as a time of communion, spiritual renewal and personal and pastoral conversion: this was the perspective outlined by Archbishop Samuele Sangalli in his homily on September 19, the liturgical memorial of St Januarius, Bishop and Martyr, at the conclusion of the ongoing formation course promoted by the Dicastery for Evangelization . The course began on Sunday, September 13, at the Ad Gentes Centre in Nemi, in the Castelli Romani area.
The Course represented a new, “experimental” initiative among the activities promoted by the missionary Dicastery. Twenty-one bishops took part in the working sessions, all from English-speaking African countries, who had received episcopal ordination between 1999 and 2022.

Addressing the participants, the Adjunct Secretary of the missionary Dicastery first recalled the words of the Apostle Paul in the First Letter to the Corinthians: “Just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the heavenly man” . As he explained, these words certainly refer to “the mysterious transformation that will take place at the moment of our death”, but they also reveal a reality that is already at work in the lives of the baptized.
“We know that, from the moment of our Baptism, through the power of the Holy Spirit, that work of conforming our humanity to that of Christ is already taking place within us: a transformation that requires the adherence of our entire being; a conversion that embraces our whole life as Christians and ministers of the Gospel,” Sangalli said.

The days of meetings organized for bishops also form part of this journey: opportunities for fraternity, deeper reflection and inner renewal promoted by the Dicastery. As the Archbishop observed, these initiatives were welcomed “with great enthusiasm by the episcopates to which they were proposed”. The hope is that such initiatives, which make visible the “Catholic/universal dimension of episcopal communion”, may become firmly established and develop into a regular gathering at the See of Peter, as the formation Course for New Bishops has by now become.

The formation program, Archbishop Sangalli continued, helps Pastors “to allow the seed” of the Word of God “to mature within us and in our episcopal ministry”. In this regard, the Adjunct Secretary of the missionary Dicastery quoted the Second Vatican Council’s Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum: “God, who spoke of old, uninterruptedly converses with the bride of His beloved Son; and the Holy Spirit, through whom the living voice of the Gospel resounds in the Church, and through her, in the world, leads unto all truth those who believe and makes the word of Christ dwell abundantly in them.” .

The image of the seed, evoked by the Gospel parable proclaimed in the day’s liturgy, formed the core of the meditation. Archbishop Sangalli offered the bishops a long passage from St Charles de Foucauld, whom he described as “the mystical explorer of Christ’s daily life”. In the text, the French saint contemplates God’s tireless action in sowing the Gospel in human hearts, even when they appear distracted, unreceptive, ungrateful or hostile.

“How good You are, my God, You who not only deign to give us the word of life, and examples that show us the way, but who even take care to show us the obstacles that could prevent us from benefiting from them! How good You are, You who toil so much for us, who go and come, who speak all day long, who sow the seed of the Gospel without ceasing, and alas, so often sow it among distracted souls, souls ill-disposed, ungrateful, at times hostile.”

From this came the invitation not to select the recipients of the proclamation, but to embrace the very logic of Jesus, who sows generously and without reserve.
“Let us preach the Gospel to every creature as Jesus did, whether well or ill-disposed; let us cast the seed of our prayers, of our good example, of our good deeds, and, if God wills, of our words, into every human soul; God will make it germinate in His own time, if they are receptive to it; it is His work and theirs; ours is to sow, as He does, for every human being, the Holy Gospel, whether by speaking or in silence, as God asks of us.”

The same passage from de Foucauld also recalls the responsibility of those who receive the seed of the Word.
“And when the divine Sower lets His seed fall upon us, let us receive it and be good soil for it: let us not be ‘light-hearted’, allowing the devil to carry the seed away from us; let us not be ‘inconstant’, receiving the word and making great plans for perfection, only to abandon them at the first difficulty that arises in putting them into practice let us not be ‘attached to earthly things’, neglecting to carry out our plans for perfection.”

Every circumstance of life, the Archbishop recalled, once again quoting the Saint, can become a seed entrusted to human freedom: “This divine seed falls upon us at every hour; at every minute, at every second, He casts it into every human soul. Every good inspiration, every good desire, every good thought, this good example we have received, this good book we have read, this good word we have heard, this beautiful soul we have glimpsed, this trial, this illness, this event, this consolation, this suffering – in short, everything that happens to us in life, everything that follows one moment after another, is good seed cast by the tender Sower to bear fruit in our soil and produce in us fruits of eternal life: ‘all things work together for good for those who love God’ .”

At the conclusion of his homily, Sangalli entrusted the bishops’ journey to the care of Mary and St Januarius.
“May the Lord therefore help us to make fruitful, according to his will, the seed he has sown in us during these days.”
He concluded with the words of Psalm 56: “This I know, that God is on my side. In the Lord, whose word I praise. In God I trust; I shall not fear.”

The formation course for bishops held in Nemi was organized with the support of the Pontifical Foundation “Aid to the Church in Need.” On Friday afternoon, 18 September, Dr Regina Lynch, Executive President of Aid to the Church in Need, with responsibility for the regions of East Africa, took part in a working session and presented the Foundation’s activities to the course participants.

AFRICA/SOMALIA - Humanitarian crisis compounded by political and institutional instability

Mon, 21 Sep 2026 12:57:28 +0200

Mogadishu – “With great concern, I am following the humanitarian crisis unfolding in certain areas of Somalia, where acts of violence and extreme weather events are exacerbating the already precarious living conditions of the population, particularly of women and children. I hope for the generous involvement of the international community, so that our brothers and sisters may not lack the necessary assistance.” The appeal made by Pope Leo XIV after the Angelus on Sunday, 20 September, has once again drawn international attention to Somalia’s complex situation, caught between political and institutional instability and the consequences of climatic phenomena such as El Niño.
On the political level, the federal government in Mogadishu is facing accusations from at least three member states of the federation, Puntland, Jubaland and South West State, of having approved constitutional amendments without the consent of the member states.
Federal President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud claims that, under the constitutional amendments approved on 30 March 2024, he remains the legitimate Head of State until 15 May 2027. The opposition disputes the validity of these amendments, arguing that Mohamud’s constitutional mandate expired on 15 May 2026, in accordance with Somalia’s provisional constitution.
In November 2024, Jubaland suspended cooperation with the central government and amended its own constitution to overcome the two-term limit for its President, Ahmed Mohamed Islam Madobe, who was subsequently elected to a third term. A court in Mogadishu then issued an arrest warrant for Madobe, accusing him of high treason, violating the constitutional order, disclosing confidential information to foreign actors and threatening national unity. In turn, the court in Kismayo, the capital of Jubaland, placed a bounty on the federal President Mohamud, accusing him of treason, undermining national unity and colluding with the Al-Shabaab jihadists. Somali soldiers attempted to seize control of Jubaland but were repelled with heavy losses.
For his part, South West State President Abdiaziz Laftagareen suspended relations with Mogadishu in March 2026, following what he described as an attempt by the federal army to overthrow him. In recent months, there have been several clashes between federal troops and militias loyal to Laftagareen.
The political and institutional instability overlaps with the war against the Al-Shabaab jihadists, who still control large areas of the country, particularly in rural regions. In 2022, Federal President Mohamud declared an all-out war against Al-Shabaab, targeting their strongholds in Middle Shabelle, Hiraan and Galmudug. However, despite the support of international contingents, including Turkish and Ugandan forces, as well as local militia groups known as Macawisley, the results so far have been disappointing. This has created a further source of friction between the central government and the federal member states, which suspect that, rather than eliminating the Al-Shabaab threat, the federal forces prefer to maintain a form of controlled conflict in central and southern Somalia. A war economy has emerged, favouring the perpetuation of instability to the detriment of the civilian population.
The shortcomings of the federal army in its fight against Al-Shabaab stand in contrast to the offensives conducted by the autonomous state of Puntland against the Islamic State in the Cal Miskaad mountains, with US support. Puntland has become part of the US strategy of establishing new bases of support in the Horn of Africa, particularly now that the Houthis have taken control of Yemen’s Red Sea coastline.
In this context of deep insecurity and political instability, Somalia will also have to face the climatic consequences of “Super El Niño”. The Somali disaster management agency has warned the population to prepare for the effects of “Super El Niño”, including heavy rainfall, flooding and river overflows.

ASIA/KAZAKHSTAN - New Constitution confirms ban on death penalty: “Human dignity is inviolable”

Mon, 21 Sep 2026 12:10:29 +0200

Astana – Kazakhstan is a country where no one is put to death and where the inalienable dignity of every human being is upheld. This is enshrined in Kazakhstan’s new Constitution, approved by referendum on 15 March 2026 and which entered into force on 1 July 2026.
The transition to the new constitutional text has firmly consolidated decisions taken in previous years, definitively confirming the absolute ban on the death penalty.
Speaking to Fides, Fr. Gabriel Jocher, an Austrian priest of the Congregation of the Servants of Jesus and Mary and National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in Kazakhstan, said: “Kazakhstan has once again explicitly confirmed the ban on the death penalty. From a Christian perspective, this is a reason for joy. Human dignity is not lessened even when a person has committed a serious crime. At the same time, respect for human life does not mean turning a blind eye to unlawful acts: justice, accountability and the protection of society remain fundamental.”
The priest continued: “Article 1 of the Constitution defines the human being, human life, rights and freedoms as the supreme values of the State. Article 17 establishes that ‘the right to life is an inalienable and inviolable right of every person’. It then states clearly: ‘The death penalty is prohibited.’”
“This ban,” the missionary recalled, “is not new; it was already provided for in the previous Constitution. By reaffirming it, Kazakhstan has reiterated its constitutional commitment to safeguarding life and human dignity. We can be grateful for this decision and for those who supported it at the state level.”

Kazakhstan had already abolished the death penalty in June 2022, when capital punishment was removed from the Constitution. The process leading to abolition lasted almost twenty years and proceeded through several key steps: the introduction of a moratorium in 2003; the ratification in 2021 of the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ; and the adoption of parliamentary legislation in December 2021 removing capital punishment from all provisions of the Criminal Code, including the exceptions previously applicable to crimes committed in wartime. Finally, a constitutional referendum in June 2022 amended Article 15 of the Constitution by introducing the wording: “The death penalty is prohibited.”
The drafting of Kazakhstan’s new Constitution in 2026 involved a substantial revision of the previous constitutional framework. The new Constitution, approved by 87.15% of voters, is intended to set out the guiding principles of the “New Kazakhstan”, while strengthening fundamental civil rights.
In reshaping the sections concerning human rights and the organization of the State, the Constitutional Commission retained certain provisions, including the principle of the complete prohibition of the death penalty, which was incorporated directly into the framework of fundamental human rights. There have been no rollbacks on the ban on the death penalty, not even for offences relating to terrorism or military crimes.

The abolition of the death penalty is only one element of the constitutional overhaul promoted by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. The new text introduces major reforms, including a reform of Parliament, which has become a unicameral body following the complete abolition of the Senate. The office of Vice-President of the Republic, abolished in 1996, has also been reinstated. In addition, a new presidentially appointed body, the “People’s Council”, has been established, with the power to propose legislation and call future referendums.
The text also includes new chapters aimed at protecting citizens’ privacy and digital data, together with a redefinition of religious freedom.