杏MAP导航

By Vatican News

At the invitation of the local Church and the authorities of Burundi, Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin is visiting the East African country from Tuesday, 12 August, until Monday, 18 August.

The occasion for the trip is the closing of the Jubilee marking 60 years of diplomatic relations between Burundi and the Holy See; and the inauguration of the monument and laying of the foundation stone of a health centre in honour of the former apostolic nuncio, Archbishop Michael Aidan Courtney, who was killed in Burundi in 2003

Appointed in 2000 by John Paul II as papal representative in the country that was being devastated by civil war, Archbishop Courtney played a leading role in reaching the November 2003 agreement between the Burundian government and Hutu rebels.

Destined for the Apostolic Nunciature in Cuba, the Irish prelate had asked to remain in Bujumbura for another period, believing that a definitive peace was imminent. While travelling not far from the Burundian capital, his car was attacked. The only one of the occupants of the vehicle to be hit, the archbishop died in hospital on 29 December 2003, aged just 58.

In 2023, twenty years after his death, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher celebrated a memorial Mass for the nuncio in the Irish chapel of the Vatican Grottoes.

Now the entire country, in the presence of Cardinal Parolin, will commemorate the archbishop with the establishment of this centre, which will be built on the very site of the assassination. The project was announced last year by the President of Burundi, Évariste Ndayishimiye, and the date for the laying of the foundation stone was set for 14 August 2025. Cardinal Parolin will preside over the ceremony for the inauguration of the monument and the start of work on the health centre.

The itinerary

The detailed itinerary of the cardinal’s trip has been published on the account of the Secretariat of State, @TerzaLoggia. Tomorrow, 13 August, the cardinal will celebrate Mass with the Episcopal Conference of Burundi, which he will then meet with privately. A meeting with President Ndayshimiye and the signing of specific agreements between the Episcopal Conference and the Government are scheduled for the same day.

On Friday, 15 August, Parolin will celebrate Mass at the Marian Shrine of Mugera, and then visit the political and administrative capital, Gitega.

Another Mass will be celebrated on Saturday, 16 August, immediately after which Cardinal Parolin will meet with seminarians and major superiors of male and female religious orders. Later, the inauguration of the memorial to Archbishop Michael Aidan Courtney at the Apostolic Nunciature will take place, followed by a reception with the Diplomatic Corps.

Finally, on Sunday 17 August, Cardinal Parolin will preside over the closing Mass of the Jubilee for 60 years of diplomatic relations between Burundi and the Holy See at the Shrine of Notre-Dame Trois Fois admirable de Schoenstatt, built on the same ground where St John Paul II celebrated the Eucharist on 7 September 1990.