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Source: Agenzia Fides – MIL OSI

Tuesday, 6 May 2025

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by Fabio BerettaVatican City (Agenzia Fides) – With the image of Christ and the Last Judgment painted by Michelangelo on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel, the Cardinals are gathering in Conclave to elect the successor of Peter. An election in which an increasing number of cardinals from the countries under the jurisdiction of the Dicastery for Evangelization – Section for the First Evangelization and the New Particular Churches – are participating.To date, a total of 1,123 ecclesiastical districts (i.e., Archdioceses, Dioceses, Territorial Abbeys, Apostolic Vicariates, Apostolic Prefectures, Missions sui iuris, Apostolic Administrations, and Military Ordinariates) are subject to the Dicastery for Evangelization. Most of them are in Africa (525) and Asia (481), followed by the Americas (71) and Oceania (46).The Conclave of June 1963When John XXIII died on June 3, 1963, 82 Cardinals were still alive, all of whom had the right to participate in the election of the Successor of Peter. The rule that today prohibits Cardinals over the age of 80 from participating in the Conclave was introduced by Paul VI in 1970. Thus, the College of Cardinals that elected Pope Paul VI included Cardinals over the age of 80.Nevertheless, only 80 of them entered the Sistine Chapel. Two Cardinals did not come to Rome: the Hungarian József Mindszenty (the communist regime forbade him from leaving the country) and Carlos María Javier de la Torre, Archbishop of Quito, Ecuador (absent due to health reasons). A total of 29 nations were represented.A total of seven cardinals from the territories then under the jurisdiction of the Congregation Propaganda Fide participated in the Conclave that year: Peter Tatsuo Doi (Japan, Archbishop of Tokyo, President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Japan), Valerian Gracias (India, Archbishop of Bombay, President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India), Laurean Rugambwa (Tanzania, Bishop of Bukoba), Thomas Tien Ken-sin (China, Archbishop of Beijing, Apostolic Administrator of Taipei), and Norman Thomas Gilroy (Australia, Archbishop of Sydney, Primate of Australia, Grand Prior for Australia-New South Wales of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem).The Conclaves of 1978Paul VI was the first Pope to expand the boundaries of the College of Cardinals by appointing numerous non-European cardinals. After the death of the Pope (on August 6, 1978), who decided to exclude Cardinals over eighty from voting with the Motu Proprio “Ingravescentem Aetatem” of 21 November 1970 and modified some norms of the Conclave with the Apostolic Constitution “Romano Pontifici Eligendo” of 1 October 1975, a total of 111 cardinals were eligible to vote.At the conclave in August 1978, however, only 108 people entered the Sistine Chapel: Valerian Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay, John Joseph Wright, Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, and Bolesław Filipiak, Dean Emeritus of the Roman Rota, were all absent from the Conclave for health reasons.A total of 18 cardinals from the so-called mission territories took part in the election of John Paul I, including one cardinal who works in the Roman Curia and one French cardinal who heads an archdiocese in North Africa: Bernardin Gantin (Benin, President of the Pontifical Council “Cor Unum”), Lawrence Trevor Picachy (India, Archbishop of Calcutta, President of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India), Justinus Darmojuwono (Indonesia, Archbishop of Semarang), Joseph Marie Anthony Cordeiro (Pakistan, Archbishop of Karachi), Stephen Kim Sou-hwan (South Korea, Archbishop of Seoul, Apostolic Administrator of Pyongyang), Thomas Benjamin Cooray (Sri Lanka, Archbishop of Colombo, President of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Sri Lanka), Joseph Marie Trinh-nhu-Khuê (Vietnam, Archbishop of Ha Noi), Maurice Michael Otunga (Kenya, Archbishop of Nairobi, President of the Episcopal Conference of Kenya, Military Vicar for Kenya), Victor Razafimahatratra (Madagascar, Archbishop of Antananarivo, President of the Episcopal Conference of Madagascar), Dominic Ekandem (Nigeria, Bishop of Ikot Ekpene, President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria), Hyacinthe Thiandoum (Senegal, Archbishop of Dakar, President of the Episcopal Conference of Senegal, Mauritania, Cape Verde and Guinea Bissau), Owen McCann (South Africa, Archbishop of Cape Town), Laurean Rugambwa (Tanzania, Archbishop of Dar-es-Salaam) Emmanuel Kiwanuka Nsubuga (Uganda, Archbishop of Kampala), Paul Zoungrana (Burkina Faso, Archbishop of Ouagadougou), Joseph-Albert Malula (Democratic Republic of Congo, Archbishop of Kinshasa), Pio Taofinu’u (Samoa, Bishop of Samoa and Tokelau), Reginald John Delargey (New Zealand, Archbishop of Wellington, President of the New Zealand Bishops’ Conference).In 1978, a second Conclave took place just over a month after the first, as John Paul I died after only 33 days of pontificate. During this brief period, there were no Consistories, and when the cardinals met again in the Sistine Chapel in October of that year, the cardinals were the same ones who had met a few weeks earlier. They all held the same offices. Forty-six nations were represented in both Conclaves.The 2005 ConclaveThe first Conclave of the third millennium began with the reform of the conclave, which John Paul II initiated in 1996 with the Apostolic Constitution “Universi Dominici Gregis.” That year, the cardinals were accommodated for the first time in the new guesthouse Casa Santa Marta (instead of in the halls of the Apostolic Palace), which had been built specifically for this purpose. In the conclave that led to the election of Benedict XVI, 117 Cardinals were eligible to vote. A total of 115 entered the Sistine Chapel: Adolfo Antonio Suárez Rivera (Archbishop Emeritus of Monterrey, Mexico) and Jaime Lachica Sin (Archbishop Emeritus of Manila, Philippines) were unable to travel to Rome for health reasons.At the time of John Paul II’s death, the eligible Cardinals came from 52 nations on all continents. In total, there were seventeen cardinals from countries entrusted to the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, some of whom headed dicasteries and bodies of the Holy See: Wilfrid Fox Napier (South Africa, Archbishop of Durban), Gabriel Zubeir Wako (Sudan, Archbishop of Khartoum), Telesphore Placidus Toppo (India, Archbishop of Ranchi), Armand Gaétan Razafindratandra (Madagascar, Archbishop of Antananarivo), Bernard Agré (Ivory Coast, Archbishop of Abidjan), Emmanuel Wamala (Uganda, Archbishop of Kampala), Christian Wiyghan Tumi (Cameroon, Archbishop of Douala), Frédéric Etsou-Nzabi-Bamungwabi (Democratic Republic of Congo, Archbishop of Kinshasa), Francis Arinze (Nigeria, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments), Peter Seiichi Shirayanagi (Japan, Archbishop Emeritus of Tokyo), Michael Michai Kitbunchu (Thailand, Archbishop of Bangkok, President of the Thai Bishops’ Conference), Stephen Fumio Hamao (Japan, President of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People), Anthony Olubunmi Okogie (Nigeria, Archbishop of Lagos), Ivan Dias (India, Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples), Julius Riyadi Darmaatmadja (Indonesia, Archbishop of Jakarta, Military Bishop of Indonesia), Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh Mân (Vietnam, Archbishop of Ho Chi Minh), Peter Turkson (Ghana, Archbishop of Cape Coast).The 2013 ConclaveWhen Benedict XVI announced to the world his resignation from the Petrine Ministry during a Consistory in February 2013, 117 eligible cardinals were present, but only 115 entered the Sistine Chapel. Julius Riyadi Darmaatmadja (Archbishop Emeritus of Jakarta, Indonesia) and Keith Michael Patrick O’Brien (Archbishop Emeritus of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh, Scotland) were absent for health reasons.During the conclave that led to the election of Pope Francis, 17 Cardinals from the territories entrusted to the Missionary Dicastery arrived in Rome. As in previous Conclaves, several of these cardinals served in the Dicasteries of the Roman Curia: Peter Turkson (Ghana, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace), Albert Malcolm Ranjith Patabendige Don (Sri Lanka, Archbishop of Colombo), Robert Sarah (Guinea, President of the Pontifical Council ‘Cor Unum’), George Alencherry (India, Archbishop of Ernakulam-Angamaly), Oswald Gracias (India, Archbishop of Bombay), Polycarp Pengo (Tanzania, Archbishop of Dar-es-Salaam), John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan (Nigeria, Archbishop of Abuja), John Njue (Kenya, Archbishop of Nairobi), Wilfrid Fox Napier (South Africa, Archbishop of Durban), Gabriel Zubeir Wako (Sudan, Archbishop of Khartoum), Telesphore Placidus Toppo (India, Archbishop of Ranchi), Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya (Democratic Republic of Congo, Archbishop of Kinshasa), John Tong Hon (China, Bishop of Hong Kong), Théodore-Adrien Sarr (Senegal, Archbishop of Dakar), Anthony Olubunmi Okogie (Nigeria, Archbishop of Lagos), Ivan Dias (India, Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples), Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh Mân (Vietnam, Archbishop of Hô Chí Minh).The 2025 ConclaveAt the time of Pope Francis’s death, there are 252 cardinals alive, of whom 135 arepotential electors for the Conclave that begins on May 7. Of these, 133 will enter the Sistine Chapel, as two of them, Cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera, Archbishop Emeritus of Valencia, and Cardinal John Njue, Archbishop Emeritus of Nairobi, are absent for health reasons.It will be a Conclave with Cardinals from 66 nations. Among them are 34 from the territories under the jurisdiction of the Dicastery for Evangelization. Some of them come from other countries but exercise their ministry in these mission countries, just as some are active in the Roman Curia: Giorgio Marengo (Italy, Apostolic Prefect of Ulan Bator, Mongolia), Virgílio do Carmo da Silva (East Timor, Metropolitan Archbishop of Dili), Dieudonné Nzapalainga (Central African Republic, Metropolitan Archbishop of Bangui), Stephen Ameyu Martin Mulla (South Sudan, Metropolitan Archbishop of Juba), Jean-Paul Vesco (France, Metropolitan Archbishop of Algiers), Soane Patita Paini Mafi (Tonga, Bishop of Tonga), Anthony Poola (India, Metropolitan Archbishop of Hyderabad), Ignace Bessi Dogbo (Ivory Coast, Metropolitan Archbishop of Abidjan), Protase Rugambwa (Tanzania, Metropolitan Archbishop of Tabora), Fridolin Ambongo Besungu (Democratic Republic of the Congo, Metropolitan Archbishop of Kinshasa), Stephen Chow Sau-yan (China, Bishop of Hong Kong), Antoine Kambanda (Rwanda, Metropolitan Archbishop of Kigali), Tarcisius Isao Kikuchi (Japan, Metropolitan Archbishop of Tokyo), William Goh Seng Chye (Singapore, Archbishop of Singapore), John Ribat (Papua New Guinea, Metropolitan Archbishop of Port Moresby), Stephen Brislin (South Africa, Metropolitan Archbishop of Johannesburg), Désiré Tsarahazana (Madagascar, Metropolitan Archbishop of Toamasina), Filipe Neri Ferrão (India, Metropolitan Archbishop of Goa and Damão), Cristóbal López Romero (Spain, Archbishop of Rabat, Morocco), Lazarus You Heung-sik (South Korea, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Clergy), Sebastian Francis (Malaysia, Bishop of Penang), Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo (Indonesia, Metropolitan Archbishop of Jakarta), Arlindo Gomes Furtado (Cape Verde, Bishop of Santiago de Cabo Verde), Francis Xavier Kriengsak Kovithavanij (Thailand, Archbishop Emeritus of Bangkok), Thomas Aquino Manyo Maeda (Japan, Metropolitan Archbishop of Osaka-Takamatsu), Charles Maung Bo (Myanmar, Metropolitan Archbishop of Yangon), Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson (Ghana, Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences), John Atcherley Dew (New Zealand, Archbishop Emeritus of Wellington), Albert Malcolm Ranjith Patabendige Don (Sri Lanka, Metropolitan Archbishop of Colombo), Philippe Nakellentuba Ouédraogo (Burkina Faso, Archbishop Emeritus of Ouagadougou), Jean-Pierre Kutwa (Ivory Coast, Archbishop Emeritus of Abidjan), Joseph Coutts (Pakistan, Archbishop Emeritus of Karachi), Robert Sarah (Guinea, Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments), Peter Ebere Okpaleke (Nigeria, Bishop of Ekwulobia). (Agenzia Fides, 6/5/2025)
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Source: Agenzia Fides – MIL OSI

diocese of Mindat

Yangon (Agenzia Fides) – The episcopal ordination of Msgr. Augustine Thang Zawm Hung and the erection of the new Diocese of Mindat in the Burmese state of Chin, in northwestern Myanmar, were considered a gift of divine mercy by the Catholic people of Myanmar. Amidst difficulties, conflicts, and the consequences of the violent earthquake that devastated the country a month ago, the baptized in Myanmar wanted to gather around the new bishop and gathered on April 27, Divine Mercy Sunday, at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Yangon, where the establishment of the Diocese of Mindat and the episcopal ordination of Bishop Augustine Thang Zawm Hung took place. The faithful also gave an emotional farewell to the late Pope Francis, recalling that on January 25, 2025, the Pontiff had officially proclaimed the establishment of the Diocese of Mindat, which was based on part of the Diocese of Hakha and is now the 17th diocese in Myanmar.The faithful prayed and were moved by the figure of Pope Francis, who repeatedly mentioned the tragic situation in Myanmar in his appeals, “which showed that he carried Myanmar in his heart,” they said.Also thanks to that special closeness expressed by the Holy See, the Burmese faithful have shown great resilience in faith, in dramatic times: the creation of a new diocese testifies to the dynamism and growth of the Church in Myanmar, “it is a reason for joy for the universal Church and a reason for hope for the future” they said. The Bishop – they emphasize in the new diocese – is not alone in his mission: priests, nuns, catechists, volunteers and faithful all have a great spirit of collaboration. The faithful of Mindat have shown, in these times of serious crisis, that they want to build bridges of friendship, brotherhood and reconciliation. In one of the poorest regions of the country, in the Chin state, crossed by armed conflicts, the population of the new diocese of Mindat and its Bishop are ready to “give a testimony of Christian life, practicing the culture of dialogue and encounter, with closeness to the people, good works and the construction of fraternal and welcoming communities: in this way it is possible to hope and see God at work”, they note.The principal consecrator of the ordination ceremony was Archbishop Marcus Tin Win of Mandalay, as the Archbishop of Yangon, Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, was in Rome for the Pope’s funeral and the Conclave. Archbishop Marco Tin Win said, “God wants us to recognize that his mercy is greater than our sins, so that we can invoke him with confidence, receive his mercy, and through us, it will be passed on to others. In this way, everyone will be able to share his joys.” The Archbishop spoke about the various difficulties facing the people of Chin State, Burma, due to the political situation and the suffering following the great earthquake. He said, “Amidst hardships and difficulties, we cannot limit ourselves to looking down, but are invited to raise our gaze to the Lord,” recalling Christ’s promise “to always be with us.” At the end of the celebration, Archbishop Andrea Ferrante, Chargé d’Affaires of the Apostolic Nunciature in Myanmar, recalled Pope Francis, who was close to the Burmese people in recent years with his prayers and constant appeals for dialogue and peace. He also encouraged the new Bishop of Mindat, who is called to the great responsibility of “bringing the peace of Christ to the flock entrusted to him.” A path that “is not easy, but not impossible, if it is stimulated and nourished by prayer and fraternal cooperation within and outside the Church.” “The new bishop,” he recalled, “has the task of making the community grow in faith, hope, and charity, and of ensuring communion with the Episcopal Conference and the universal Church, under the guidance of the Pope.” He added: “Amidst insecurity, the ongoing armed conflicts, the poverty of the population, the dramatic situation of families and young people, which generates fear, we must remember the words of Pope Francis: ‘War strikes in a special way the most vulnerable and leaves indelible marks on families… the paths of peace are paths of solidarity, because no one is saved alone. Peace is possible.” He concluded by encouraging everyone to work with the new bishop to carry out effective and fruitful missionary work, to “build bridges of friendship, fraternity, and reconciliation.” (PA) (Agenzia Fides, 6/5/2025)
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Source: Agenzia Fides – MIL OSI

Beijing (Agenzia Fides) – “Born from Hope, Looking towards Hope”: was the motto of the meeting promoted by the Archdiocese of Taiyuan, in the Chinese province of Shanxi, as part of its Jubilee journey in communion with the universal Church, on the occasion of the Jubilee of Hope.The meeting took place on Monday, May 5, in the Parish of the Immaculate Conception in Yangjiapu, one of the churches designated by the diocese as Jubilee Churches. During the meeting, Bishop Paul Meng Ningyou exhorted the faithful to “participate with care and generosity in the life of the Church, supporting one another in Christ to build a culture of encounter and share works of charity and concrete testimonies,” at the service of the ecclesial community and Chinese society as a whole.The Jubilee journey of the Catholic community of Taiyuan began on December 28 with the opening of the Holy Door in the diocesan cathedral. During this solemn celebration, the faithful listened to the silent reading of Spes non confundit, the text Pope Francis used to proclaim the Jubilee of Hope. They then passed through the Holy Door in procession, singing the Prayer of the Saints. On this occasion, Bishop Meng emphasized that the Jubilee is an opportune moment to recognize that “our greatest hope is in God” and to “bring this light to every corner of the world.”In addition to the aforementioned Immaculate Conception Parish in Yangjiapu, other churches designated as jubilee churches in the archdiocese are: the Bansishan Parish (near the shrine of the same name), the Parish of Our Lady of Sorrows, the Cathedral (dedicated to the Immaculate Conception), the Parish of St. Anthony in Xiliulin, the Parish of Christ the King in Guchengying, and the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Honggou and the parish of the Immaculate Conception in YangJiapu. (NZ) (Agenzia Fides, 6/5/2025)
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