BUJUMBURA, Burundi — Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin began a five-day visit to Burundi on Tuesday, August 12, where he was received by Vice President Prosper Bazombanza.
Speaking to reporters at the airport, Parolin said he brought a message similar to that of Pope John Paul II during his visit to the country 35 years ago. At the time, the Pope urged Burundians to unite their strength and God-given talents to build the nation’s future and contribute to its development.
On Wednesday, Parolin met with President Évariste Ndayishimiye at the Ntare Rushatsi Palace. Presidential spokesperson Rosine Guilène Gatoni said the two discussed the 60-year relationship between Burundi and the Vatican.
Seven cooperation agreements were signed the same day covering health, education, and chaplaincy services for security forces, schools and universities, health institutions, penitentiary institutions, and migrants and refugees.
The agreements were signed on behalf of the Burundian government by the Ministers of Education, Interior, Social Affairs, and Foreign Affairs. Bishop Bonaventure Nahimana, president of the Episcopal Conference of Burundi, signed on behalf of the Catholic Church in the presence of Ndayishimiye and Parolin.
During the visit, Parolin is scheduled to lay the foundation stone for a hospital named after Monsignor Michael Courtney, a former papal nuncio to Burundi who was assassinated in 2003 in Minago, Rumonge province.
He will also deliver a message from Pope Leo XIV confirming approval for the establishment of a basilica in Mugera, Gitega province. According to Gatoni, the request for the basilica was made by Ndayishimiye to the late Pope Benedict XVI during a past visit to the Vatican, and it has now been granted by Pope Leo XIV.
