Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
claret.org
Rome (Agenzia Fides) – This year, a total of 192 newly ordained bishops from all five continents (almost all of whom were ordained last year) will participate in the formation courses organized by various Dicasteries of the Holy See in Rome over the coming days, from Wednesday, September 3 to Thursday, September 11.
The formation courses for newly appointed bishops, traditionally held in September, have become an integral part of the Roman Curia's programming.
This year, too, the sessions on Monday, September 8 and Tuesday, September 9, will be held as part of joint courses at the Pontifical Urbaniana University, in accordance with the new structure introduced in 2024. Both the bishops participating in the course organized by the Dicastery for Evangelization (Section for First Evangelization and New Particular Churches) and the bishops assigned to the Dicastery for Bishops will participate.
A total of 192 newly ordained bishops will participate in the course organized by the Dicastery for Evangelization (Section for Initial Evangelization and the New Particular Churches). 78 bishops are participating in the course of the Dicastery for Evangelization, while 114 participants are taking part in the course of the Dicastery for Bishops. Among the latter are five bishops of the Eastern Rite (who are subject to the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches) and five newly ordained bishops serving in the Roman Curia.
With the introduction of meetings attended jointly by newly appointed bishops from around the world, last year was conceived as a sign of communion within the universal Church, as well as a moment of collegiality, mutual knowledge, and the possible building of relationships between different local Churches.
"To be pastors rooted in Christ, a strong spiritual bond with the Lord is essential: every bishop must first speak to God and then speak about God to people; to lead the flock to the pastures of life, the shepherd must first nourish himself with the Bread of Life," states the preface to the book "Pastori di Cristo per una Chiesa sinodale" (Shepherds of Christ for a Synodal Church, Vatican Library, 2024), which contains lectures and homilies from the 2024 annual formation courses for new bishops. The preface was written jointly by Cardinal Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle, Pro-Prefect of the Missionary Dicastery, and Robert Francis Prevost, then Cardinal Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and now Pope Leo XIV.
On the other days of the course, the groups of newly ordained bishops will hear lectures and participate in debates, working groups and round tables focused on specific themes, as well as separate training sessions. The course organized by the Dicastery for Evangelization, entitled "Paving a Path for Hope: Called to the Episcopal Ministry in the Context of the Holy Year," will take place at the Pontifical College of St. Peter, while the course organized by the Dicastery for Bishops, will be held at the Pontifical College of St. Paul.
THE COURSE ORGANIZED BY THE MISSIONARY DICASTERY
The work of the formation course for newly appointed bishops, organized by the Dicastery for Evangelization (Section for First Evangelization and New Particular Churches), will begin on Thursday morning, September 4, with presentations by Cardinal Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle and Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu, Pro-Prefect and Secretary of the Dicastery for Evangelization, respectively. On Thursday afternoon, the bishops will hear a presentation by Archbishop Rino Fisichella, Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization (Section for Fundamental Questions of Evangelization in the World).
The program for Friday, September 5, addresses the urgency of inculturation and includes presentations by Archbishop Nwachukwu ("Ethnicity at the Service of the Church”), Bishop Aurelio Garcia Macias, Undersecretary of the Dicastery for Divine Worship (“Inculturating the Liturgy Today”), and Archbishop Flavio Pace and Monsignor Usma Gomez Juan Fernando, Secretary and Director of the Office of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, respectively, will explain the “Challenge of the Pentecostal Churches.”
Saturday begins for the bishops with the passage through the Holy Door, a common Mass and the veneration of the relics of the Apostle in St. Peter's Basilica. The following sessions will include the reports of Archbishop Juan Ignacio Arrieta, Secretary of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts (“The Bishop as Judge”), and Archbishop John Joseph Kennedy, Secretary of the Disciplinary Section of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (“Dealing with Cases of ‘Delicta Graviora’”). In the afternoon, Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell, Prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, together with Dr. Linda Ghisoni and Dr. Gabriella Gambino, Undersecretaries of the same Dicastery, lectures on the theme “Laity, Family and Life: Accompaniment and Formation in the Pastoral Care of the People of God."
On Sunday, September 7, all bishops who have gathered for the courses in Rome will participate in the solemn Mass for the canonization of Blesseds Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis in St. Peter's Basilica.
SHARED SESSIONS
The days of the new bishops' meeting will begin on Monday, September 8, with the Eucharistic celebration presided over by Cardinal Christoph Schönborn in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. The working sessions will then be opened by a presentation by the Archbishop Emeritus of Vienna on "The Episcopal Ministry as Witness and Proclamation of Hope Founded in Christ," which will take place at the Pontifical Urbaniana University.
On Monday afternoon, the dialogue between the bishops will begin in the Aula Magna of the Urbaniana with a presentation by Cardinal Fabio Baggio, Undersecretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, on the theme "Hope and Suffering – The Phenomenon of Migration."
On Tuesday, September 9, the impact of the synodal path on the structures, life, and governance of diocesan parishes will be outlined in contributions by Cardinal Sérgio da Rocha, Archbishop of São Salvador del Bahia, and Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, Archbishop of Kinshasa. The reports will be followed by discussions and in-depth discussions in language groups.
On the afternoon of Tuesday, September 9, the working session will focus on the missionary connection with the Holy See, with a special emphasis on the collection of resources for the missionary apostolate, which is funded by Peter's Pence and the Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS). Information and suggestions for exchange and deeper study will be the focus of the presentations by Cardinal Tagle, Father Tadeusz Nowak – Secretary General of the Pontifical Society for the Propagation of the Faith – and Dr. Giuseppe De Summa of the Accounting and Finance Office of the Missionary Dicastery. This will be followed by a discussion on the mission and the working practices of the Pontifical Mission Societies in the presence of the Secretaries General of the four Pontifical Societies.
The final sessions of the course organized by the Missionary Dicastery will take place on Wednesday, September 10, at the Pontifical College of St. Peter. The lecture, entitled "The Bishop and Crisis Management with Regard to the Clergy," will be delivered by Monsignor Peter Beer, lecturer at the Institute of Anthropology at the Pontifical Gregorian University. Father Hans Zollner, Dean of the same institute, will address the "Responsibility of Particular Churches for the Protection of Minors and Vulnerable Adults." In the afternoon, workshops for language groups will be held, led by members of the Gregorian Institute of Anthropology.
The two groups of newly appointed bishops will be received jointly in audience by Pope Leo XIV on Thursday, September 11.
The tradition of study seminars for newly ordained bishops from the particular Churches entrusted to the Missionary Dicastery began in 1994 with the aim of offering all new bishops, at the beginning of their ministry, the opportunity to confront the many challenges inherent in the exercise of the episcopal ministry and to spend days together in Rome, marked by dialogue and prayer, with brother bishops from around the world. (Agenzia Fides, 2/9/2025)
