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St. Jude, known as Thaddaeus, was a brother of St. James the Lesser, and a relative of Jesus. Ancient writers tell us that he preached the Gospel in Judea, Samaria, Idumaea, Syria, Mesopotamia, and Lybia.
Wilfrid Fox Cardinal Napier of South Africa, Papal Delegate to the Double Jubilee celebration – marking both the ongoing Catholic Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year and the 75th anniversary of the elevation of Ghana’s Cape Coast Church to an Archdiocese – has urged the people of God to move forward with confidence, grounded in gratitude for their past, commitment to the present, and faith in God’s promises for the future.
As Cameroon’s Constitutional Council confirmed the re-election of President Paul Biya, Africa’s second-longest-serving head of State after President Teodoro Obiang of Equatorial Guinea, a Catholic Bishop in the Central African nation has called for calm, justice, and peace amid mounting post-election protests.
Bishop Barthélemy Adoukonou, a native of Benin and former Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Culture at the Vatican, has passed on at the age of 83. Bishop Adoukonou passed on shortly after midnight on Monday, October 27, at the University Teaching Hospital in Cotonou, the Local Ordinary of Cotonou Catholic Archdiocese who doubles as the President of the Episcopal Conference of Benin (CEB) announced in a statement. “A great theologian, educator, and man of faith, Bishop Adoukonou devoted his entire life to the service of God, the Church, and culture,” Archbishop Roger Houngbédji says in the October 27 statement. Archbishop Houngbédji notes that as former Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Culture, Bishop Adoukonou “worked with intelligence and passion to foster dialogue between faith and reason, between the Gospel and African cultures.” “His teaching, wisdom, and deep love for the Church have profoundly influenced generations of Priests, women and men Religious, intellectuals, and lay faithful,” the member of the Order of Preachers (OP/Dominicans) says. He further says the late Bishop’s passing “leaves a great void in the life of the Church and the intellectual world, but his radiant witness remains a precious spiritual and cultural legacy.” “We commend his soul to the mercy of the Lord, in the firm belief that Christ, conqueror of death, welcomes him into the joy of His Kingdom,” Archbishop Houngbédji says, and adds, “Funeral arrangements will be communicated at a later date.” Bishop Adoukonou served as rector of Saint-Paul di Djimé Major Seminary in Benin from 1977 to 1984; professor of fundamental theology at the Catholic Institute of West Africa (CIWA) in Abidjan Ivory Coast, from 1978 to 1982. From 2000 to 2009, Bishop Adoukonou served as Secretary of the Regional Episcopal Conference of West Africa (RECOWA). In December 2009, he was appointed Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Culture and was ordained Bishop in October 2011. The founder of the Movement Le Sillon Noir (Mewihwendo), which he animated from its inception in 1970 until 1999 also served as member of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, and the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity, now the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity. He was also a member of the International Theological Commission for two five-year terms. In another statement issued October 27, the Rector of the Catholic University of the Congo (UCC) described Bishop Adoukonou as an “undisputed and indisputable master of the inculturation of the Christian faith in Africa.” Fr. Léonard Santedi Kinkupu recalled that the late Bishop Adoukonou, who was awarded an honorary doctorate by the university’s Faculty of Theology, “was one of the pioneers of African theology.” “The Theological School of Kinshasa pays a vibrant tribute to this master,” Fr. Santedi says, adding that his 1977 doctoral thesis, Foundations for an African Theology: An Essay on a Christian Hermeneutic of the Dahomean Vodun, written under the supervision of Professor Joseph Ratzinger – later Pope Benedict XVI – “remains a masterpiece in theology and a major contribution to the essential and ever-demanding dialogue between faith and culture.” Fr. Santedi extends his condolences “to the biological and religious family of the deceased, as well as to the entire African academic community,” and commends his soul “to your fervent prayers.” “May the Lord welcome him into His Kingdom and grant him the reward promised to the good and faithful servant,” the UCC Rector implores.
Bishop Faustin Ngabu, the second Bishop of the Goma Catholic Diocese in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), has passed on after a prolonged illness. He was aged 90.
Pope Leo XIV drew laughter and applause when he recalled asking his mother in the 1970s whether she wanted equality with men. “No,” she replied, “because we’re already better.”
A new report by the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) covering the period between August 10 and October 26 has revealed that in just the 76 days, over 100 Christians in Nigeria were killed, and 120 others kidnapped by jihadist groups.
Young girls under the age of 14 who are addicted to the killer drug “kush” in Sierra Leone will find help in an ongoing campaign by Caritas Freetown to address the rampant use of the substance, which has been officially classified by authorities in the country as a national epidemic.
In a gathering aimed at charting a new path for formation of members, leaders of the Religious Institute of Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB) from across Africa met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The Archbishop of Malawi’s Catholic Archdiocese of Blantyre has underscored the essential role of Church leaders in guiding and forming the moral conscience of the people of God, especially during general elections.
Newman will join a list of several other Catholic saints considered patrons of other aspects of education. Get to know them here.
Pope Leo XIV urged university students to feed their “hunger for truth and meaning,” lamenting that modern education often loses sight of the “big picture.”
The trip will center on two key moments: a pilgrimage to mark the 1,700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea and a visit to the tomb of St. Charbel Makhlouf.
Unless South Sudan’s instability is resolved, the evangelization mission of the Church in the country may not progress effectively, the Local Ordinary of the Catholic Diocese of Yei has said.
St. Frumentius helped in a great capacity to bring Christianity to Ethiopia. He was born in Lebanon, and was shipwrecked in East Africa while voyaging on the Red Sea. Only he and his brother, Aedeius, survived.
Bishop Alex Lodiong Sakor Eyobo of South Sudan’s Catholic Diocese of Yei has lauded the resilience of the people of God under his pastoral care amid ongoing economic, political, and security challenges in the world’s newest country.
Archbishop Filomeno do Nascimento Vieira Dias of the Catholic Archdiocese of Luanda in Angola has encouraged the people of God to live each day rooted in the certainty of God’s presence and guided by virtues of faith and hope.
Archbishop Marcel Utembi Tapa of the Catholic Archdiocese of Kisangani in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has called on security agencies in the country to take urgent action to protect citizens and their property following an armed robbery at Kabondo General Referral Hospital, a health facility under his Metropolitan See.
African Catholics have marked this year’s Feast Day of St. John Paul II against the backdrop of two commemorations: 40 years since the late Pope’s August 1985 pastoral visit to Cameroon and 30 years since his 14 September 1995 post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation on the Church in Africa and its evangelizing mission towards the year 2000, Ecclesia in Africa, which he issued in the same Central African nation.
Pope Leo XIV consecrated Mons. Mirosław Stanisław Wachowski a bishop during a Mass at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter’s Basilica on Oct. 26, 2025.