Abuse prevention, liturgy central to Vatican courses for new bishops

The Vatican is hosting its annual formation course for newly appointed bishops from Sept. 2-10, bringing together 147 prelates from five continents to strengthen ecclesial communion and provide practical tools for the exercise of episcopal ministry.

The program has been a fixture of the Church calendar since 2000, when it was launched by St. John Paul II. Described by Vatican media as a condensed “master’s program” for new bishops, it is designed to foster the exchange of experiences among pastors from widely differing cultural, social, and ecclesial contexts while offering practical guidance for governing local churches.

This year’s participants come from countries across Africa, Asia, Oceania, and Latin America, including Algeria, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, the Philippines, Ghana, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Myanmar, Namibia, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Central African Republic, Senegal, the Seychelles, the Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Vietnam, Zimbabwe, Kyrgyzstan, and Thailand.

Most of the world’s bishops fall under the jurisdiction of the Dicastery for Bishops, which oversees the creation of dioceses,…