Tanzania’s Cardinal Elector Recalls Pope Leo XIV’s Appeal for Unity, Collaboration to Realize Successful Papacy

Tabora, 26 May, 2025 / 9:22 PM

Protase Cardinal Rugambwa, one of the 18 Cardinal Electors from Africa, is calling upon the people of God in Tanzania to unite in support of the mission of Pope Leo XIV, who appealed for unity and collaboration, when he addressed the College of Cardinals after his election as the 267th Pontiff.

In an interview with Radio Maria Tanzania published on YouTube on May 22, Cardinal Rugambwa recalled Pope Leo XIV’s maiden address to Cardinals on May 10, and identified “readiness” as a key takeaway from the 2025 Conclave experience that followed the April 21 passing on of Pope Francis.

Pope Leo XIV, the Tanzanian Cardinal recalled, “said, ‘I ask you, first of all, as leaders of the Church and close collaborators in this mission I am about to undertake, to be united.’

According to Cardinal Rugambwa, the newly elected Pontiff urged the College of Cardinals to reach out and invite the people of God to collaborate with him in carrying out his mission and “to work with him in fulfilling it because he cannot accomplish this task alone.”

“To the faithful, I would say that we should now be ready, because he has asked this of us,” said the Tanzanian-born Cardinal, who was appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of Tabora in April 2023, elevated to Cardinal in July 2023, and created Cardinal alongside Pope Leo XIV, then Bishop Robert Prevost, during the September 2023 Consistory.

He continued, “My brothers and sisters, I urge us all to work together, so that we can support this Holy Father in his mission to lead the universal Church, and that his work may succeed.”

“As we emphasize in our Dioceses, a Bishop alone cannot do anything without his fellow collaborators,” Cardinal Rugambwa said, adding that Local Ordinaries “must work with him (Pope Leo XIV) in the mission he has been given, which he carries out as the appointed leader, but he will do it together with others.”

In the interview posted on YouTube on May 22, Cardinal Rugambwa described his participation in the 2025 Conclave as a moment of renewed awareness on the importance of readiness, transparency, and a spirit of collaboration.

“The first thing I learned from participating in the whole process, from the funeral to the selection of the new Pope, was readiness,” he said, adding that he also learned that it was necessary for the Cardinal Electors to “be transparent, and collaborate” due to the many matters that were to be discussed during the Papal Conclave.

Alluding to the multi-year Synod on Synodality, which the late Pope Francis extended to 2024, Cardinal Rugambwa noted the significance of walking together with others in supporting Pope Leo XIV in his mission on “this Synodal journey, the Synodal Church, which we are continually reminded of and which is being emphasized.”

“I am very grateful and happy that the Holy Father continues to emphasize unity, participation, justice, fairness, truth and openness. That is what we do, not for any other reason, but solely for the glory of God and for the growth, development, and benefit of this Church we serve,” he said.

The Cardinal, who has been at the helm of Tanzania’s Catholic Archdiocese of Tabora since November 2023 said it was enriching to have the African continent represented.

“It’s a great benefit, and it makes us happy because we can see that what others are doing in their regions, we too can share,” Cardinal Rugambwa said.

The 2025 Conclave, he said, was also an opportunity for Cardinals from Africa to share more about the pastoral situation of the Church on the continent. It was a moment for them “to receive ideas and certain recommendations that might be working well elsewhere and could also work well for us,” Cardinal Rugambwa said.