A total of 147 recently appointed bishops from the five continents are participating from this Wednesday the 2nd until Thursday the 10th of September in Rome in the formation courses organized by the Dicastery for Evangelization and the Dicastery for Bishops. The sessions will address various aspects of the episcopal ministry and will conclude with a meeting with Pope Leo XIV.
According to Agenzia Fides, 49 of the participants belong to ecclesiastical circumscriptions entrusted to the Dicastery for Evangelization and will follow the course organized by its Section for First Evangelization and New Particular Churches. The others are participating in the parallel program prepared by the Dicastery for Bishops.
Among the countries of origin of the 49 bishops in the first group are Algeria, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Colombia, Republic of the Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Philippines, Ghana, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Myanmar, Namibia, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Central African Republic, Senegal, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Vietnam, Zimbabwe, Kyrgyzstan and Thailand.
«Servants of Communion in the Church»
The course corresponding to the Dicastery for Evangelization is being held at the Pontifical Missionary College of St. Peter the Apostle under the motto «Servants of Communion in the Church».
The first working day, this Thursday the 3rd of September, will be dedicated to presenting to the new bishops the structure and activity of the Dicastery and its service to the particular Churches in mission territories. The Mass will be presided over by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, who will subsequently present the Section for First Evangelization and New Particular Churches.
Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu, secretary of the Dicastery, will deliver a lecture entitled «Servants of Communion in the Church: tribalism, casteism, racism and exclusive regionalism in the contemporary Church».
During the afternoon, issues related to clergy discipline, consecrated life, patrimonial administration and associations of the faithful will be addressed, as well as other practical aspects of consecrated life in the Churches of mission territories.
Faith, inculturation and liturgy
The day of Friday the 4th of September will be dedicated to «Faith and inculturation» and will begin with a Mass presided over by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State of the Holy See.
Cardinal George Jacob Koovakad, prefect of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, will speak on interreligious dialogue in the current context, while Archbishop Aurelio García Macías, undersecretary of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, will speak on «Continuity and novelty in the liturgy in the context of first evangelization».
The program for that day will conclude with an intervention by Cardinal Kurt Koch, prefect of the Dicastery for the Promotion of Christian Unity, on «The phenomenon of sects and new religious movements: a pastoral challenge».
Governance of dioceses and delicta graviora
On Saturday the 5th of September, the formation will focus on the juridical aspects of episcopal governance.
Archbishop Anthony Randazzo, prefect of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts, will address diocesan structures of communion and collaboration and the functioning of tribunals, with special reference to the motu proprio Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus and Vos estis lux mundi.
For his part, Archbishop John Joseph Kennedy, secretary of the Disciplinary Section of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, will deal with the action of bishops in cases related to delicta graviora, the most serious crimes whose competence is reserved to the Dicastery.
The day will also include an intervention by Archbishop Dario Gervasi, secretary of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, and by Undersecretary Gabriella Gambino, dedicated to the accompaniment and formation of the laity and families in pastoral care.
Joint sessions at the Urbaniana University
As has been the case since the reform of these courses introduced in 2024, participants in the programs organized by both dicasteries will share several sessions on 7 and 8 September at the Pontifical Urbaniana University.
On Monday, Cardinal Michael Czerny, prefect emeritus of the Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development, will present the encyclical Magnifica humanitas of Leo XIV.
During the afternoon, Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary general of the Synod of Bishops, and Cardinal Roberto Repole, archbishop of Turin, will speak on «For a synodal ecclesiology: communion, participation, mission».
On Tuesday the 8th, the feast of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, the bishops will celebrate Mass in the papal basilica of St. Mary Major, presided over by Cardinal Baldassare Reina, vicar general of the Pope for the diocese of Rome.
That same day, Cardinal Lazarus You Heung-sik, prefect of the Dicastery for the Clergy, and Cardinal Tagle will address priestly formation in the current context.
The program also includes a session on the missionary relationship with the Holy See, in which the Peter’s Pence, canon 1271 of the Code of Canon Law and the Pontifical Mission Societies will be discussed.
Protection of minors and crisis management
The day of Wednesday the 9th will be dedicated, among other matters, to the management of crisis situations and the protection of minors and vulnerable adults.
Monsignor Peter Beer, professor at the Institute of Anthropology of the Pontifical Gregorian University, will speak on «The bishop and the management of crises, especially of the clergy».
Jesuit Hans Zollner, director of the same Institute, will address «The responsibility of particular Churches for the protection of minors and vulnerable adults». The formation will be completed during the afternoon with a workshop organized by language groups.
Meeting with Leo XIV on 10 September
The sessions will conclude on Thursday 10 September with a Mass and the veneration of the relics of the apostle St. Peter in the Vatican basilica. The celebration will be presided over by Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica.
The bishops will subsequently be received by Leo XIV, bringing to an end the days of formation in Rome.
Fides recalls that the Pope already addressed the recently appointed bishops during the meeting held on 11 September 2025. On that occasion, Leo XIV placed service at the center of the episcopal ministry:
«The gift you have received is not for yourselves, but to serve the cause of the Gospel».
The Pontiff stated that bishops are «chosen and called to be sent, as apostles of the Lord and as servants of the faith» and emphasized that service is part of the very identity of the episcopate: «The bishop is a servant, the bishop is called to serve the faith of the people».
Leo XIV then called for «solicitous, attentive pastors who know how to share the journey, the questions, the anxieties and the hopes of the people», capable of being «guides, fathers and brothers» to priests and the faithful.
The Pope also pointed out some of the challenges currently facing particular Churches, including the crisis of faith and its transmission, difficulties relating to belonging and ecclesial practice, the spiritual search of those who are far from the faith, wars and violence, the suffering of the poor and ethical questions about the value of life and freedom.
In the face of these realities, Leo XIV called for recovering «the passion and courage for a new proclamation of the Gospel».