Bujumbura — Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, Section for First Evangelization and New Particular Churches, visited Burundi on Saturday, May 16, 2026. The Filipino Cardinal was warmly received at Bujumbura airport by a multitude of faithful, priests, and religious who came to express their gratitude. The Archdiocese of Bujumbura reported on its official website that it had mobilized parishes near the airport--Buterere, Gatumba, and Muramvya--as well as those near the Apostolic Nunciature, to give the Holy Father's envoy a warm welcome.
The main purpose of the visit was to celebrate the 75th anniversary of St. Peter Claver Major Seminary in Burasira, which has been training candidates for the priesthood since 1950.
In a profound pastoral homily, Cardinal Tagle reflected on the mystery of the Last Supper and its implications for priestly formation, developing three spiritual pillars: ecclesial communion, community diversity, and prayer.
Pope Leo XIV's Message of Peace
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From the beginning of his homily, delivered in French, Cardinal Tagle conveyed the greeting of the Bishop of Rome: "The Risen Lord continues to come to meet us and offer us the following greeting: 'Peace be with you.' His Holiness Pope Leo XIV embraced this greeting from the very first moment of his pontificate and entrusted me to transmit it to you, accompanied by the assurance of his paternal affection."
He then justified this jubilee celebration by quoting the Book of Tobit: "If it is good to keep the secret of kings hidden, it is necessary to reveal the wonders of God and celebrate them as they deserve." He paid tribute to the pioneers of evangelization in Burundi and welcomed the ongoing formation projects, particularly the Cibitoke preparatory major seminary and the Monsignor Michael Aidan Courtney major seminary, under construction in Minago, in the Diocese of Ruyigi.
The choice of Minago for this project was not accidental: it was precisely there that Archbishop Michael Aidan Courtney, then Apostolic Nuncio to Burundi, was assassinated on December 29, 2003. A memorial was inaugurated and blessed in Minago by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, on August 14, 2025, during his visit to the country.
Addressing the seminarians present, Cardinal Tagle conveyed the words spoken by Pope Leo XIV during the Jubilee of Seminarians in St. Peter's Basilica on June 24, 2025: "Dear seminarians, in her wisdom, Mother Church, with the help of the Holy Spirit, has always sought the most fitting ways to train her ordained ministers, keeping in mind the needs of different places. What is your own responsibility in this? Certainly, not to be content with the minimum, or to settle for being passive recipients of formation. Instead, you are called to be passionate about your preparation for priestly life, living fully in the present and looking to the future with a prophetic heart."
This exhortation set the tone for a meditation centred on the Upper Room as a model for the seminary, a place of active waiting for the Holy Spirit for 75 years in Burasira.
Cum Petro et sub Petro: ecclesial communion
The first pillar developed by Cardinal Tagle concerns the life of communion. Reflecting on the Acts of the Apostles, he recalled how the Eleven remained united after the Ascension: "The apostles, having seen Jesus ascend into heaven, found themselves alone before their destiny. The Master who had gathered them together was no longer physically visible, yet they remained united
with one another, before being dispersed to the four corners of the earth to proclaim the Gospel."
The Cardinal emphasized the primacy of Peter, quoting Christ's promise: "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it." He then explained: "Every seminary is an upper room where one learns to live the experience of ecclesial communion, presided over by the successor of the Apostle Peter. Communion precedes, enriches, and nourishes mission."
Referring to the Latin expression "Cum Petro et sub Petro" (with Peter and under Peter), he stressed that this communion implies "the recognition of dependence on a fundamental force from which disciples draw strength and inspiration." He also recalled, quoting the encyclical Lumen Fidei, that "the magisterium of the Pope and of the bishops in communion with him is not something extrinsic nor a limit to freedom, but rather guarantees contact with the original source of faith."
A Church of diversity
The second pillar described the mixed nature of the Cenacle community. Cardinal Tagle reflected on Mary's presence alongside the Apostles: "The Church is not made up solely of the Apostles, but also includes women. Among them was Mary, the mother of Jesus." He described Mary as "a model disciple, she who always sought to adhere to God's will in all things", remaining faithful to her response to the angel: "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word."
Quoting Saint Paul, he then recalled: "There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord gives them all." This ecclesiology of complementarity leads to an important reflection: "The formation of candidates for the priesthood does not only involve certain sectors of the Church, such as bishops and some priests." Every member of the Church and every category of disciple is involved in what happens in the cenacle of our seminaries."
The Cardinal exhorted the Burundian communities to materially support their seminaries, recalling Christ's words: "You yourselves give them something to eat."
Prayer, the weapon of ministry
The third and final pillar was prayer as "the principal activity of the Cenacle community." Cardinal Tagle reflected on the Gospel of John, where Jesus prays: "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that your Son may glorify you." He commented: "The glory of Jesus is not that of the world, but that of the total and complete revelation of God's love for him and for his brothers and sisters in humanity. It is the glory of the scandal of the Cross."
Underlining that "prayer was the weapon of Jesus' ministry to the very end, to the summit of Golgotha," he recalled that even after the Resurrection, "Jesus is more than ever our intercessor par excellence before the Father."
Saint Peter Claver, a model of devotion to God
In conclusion, Cardinal Tagle paid homage to the patron saint of the seminary, Saint Peter Claver, a Spanish Jesuit born on June 26, 1580, in Verdú, Catalonia, and died on September 8, 1654, in Cartagena de Indias, in present-day Colombia. Claver "defined himself, on April 3, 1622, as a slave of the Africans forever." After completing his theological studies in Bogotá, he was sent to Cartagena, where he was ordained a priest in 1616. There he dedicated the rest of his life to serving the African slaves who arrived at the port. Cartagena was one of the two Spanish ports designated to receive slaves. The number of these slaves is estimated at 10,000 per year in Peter Claver's time, and they usually arrived in very poor condition after the long voyage. Peter Claver awaited them on the dock with food he had begged for. Accompanied by former slaves who served as interpreters, the Spanish Jesuit would board the ships and greet those on deck before going down to the ship's hold to care for the sick. He cleaned wounds, applied ointments, bandaged them, and spoke to them about God, as can be read on the Jesuit website. For 44 years, he welcomed, fed, healed, clothed, consoled, and catechized them. He also visited leper colonies and cared for plague victims, the disease from which he eventually died. The Cardinal emphasized that this saint "suffered rejection and misunderstanding himself, not only from colonial society but also within his own religious order," and that "he has left us a beautiful example of how to live through life's adversities."
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A path from passion to glory
Before concluding, the Cardinal exhorted: "Saint Peter teaches us in the second reading of this liturgy that we must learn to share in the sufferings of Christ so that we may rejoice when his glory is revealed. We cannot reach the marvelous garden of the Resurrection without necessarily passing through the narrow and demanding path of Gethsemane, which leads to the sorrowful path of Calvary." He added: "The very composition of the mixed community of the Upper Room teaches us that, men and women, apostles or simple disciples, blood relatives of Jesus, we are all involved in this path from passion to glory, from the cross to the resurrection, in a spirit of prayer and abandonment to God. But, in a particular way, pastors are called to be models of faith, charity, and prayer among their brothers and sisters." A powerful spiritual and ecclesiological calling.
