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.