Advertisement

Vatican – São Tomé and Príncipe Agreement Ratified with “exchange of the instruments”

Holy Mass celebrated in Sao Tomé and Principe. Credit: Vatican Media

The agreement that the Vatican and the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe signed on 15 August 2022, the annual Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, on the recognition of the Catholic Church and her ecclesiastical institutions as a “juridical personality” in the African Island country has been ratified.

A Tuesday, January 30 Holy See Communique provides details of the events of the previous day at the Apostolic Palace of the Vatican, during which “the instruments of ratification of the Agreement between the Holy See and the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe were exchanged.”

Drafted in Italian and Portuguese and consisting some 28 articles, the agreement, which “came into effect with the exchange of the Instruments of Ratification … establishes the recognition of the legal personality of the Catholic Church and the ecclesiastical institutions, and defines the legal framework of relations between the Church and the State,” the communiqué indicates. 

The January 29 agreement also “consolidates the existing bonds of friendship and collaboration between the two Parties, who, to safeguard the independence and autonomy proper to them, undertake to collaborate for the spiritual and material wellbeing of the human person, as well as the promotion of the common good.”

The agreement was solemnly enacted by representatives of the two parties: the Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, for the Vatican, and for São Tomé and Príncipe, the country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Communities, Gareth Haddad do Espírito Santo Guadalupe. 

Advertisement

The two parties had witnesses: Mons. Simon Kassas and Mons. Carlos Fernando Díaz Paniagua, who are officials of the Section for Relations with States and International Organizations of the Secretariat of State for the Vatican; and for São Tomé and Príncipe, Ambassador Esterline Gonçalves Genero, who serves as Minister Plenipotentiary, Director General of External Policy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Communities.

According to the August 2022 press release, the Apostolic Nuncio to São Tomé and Príncipe, Archbishop Giovanni Gaspari, signed the agreement on behalf of the Vatican, while Mrs. Edite Ramos da Costa Ten Jua, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Communities, signed on behalf of São Tomé and Príncipe.

Located on the equator in the Gulf of Guinea, the country is made up of two main islands, namely São Tomé and Príncipe. It is surrounded by a luxuriant archipelago and also bears the name of St. Thomas, given by Portuguese navigators who discovered it in 1470.

The Portuguese-speaking nation, which has been independent since the mid-1970s is one of the smallest African countries, with a population of 219,100 people, most of them Catholics.

ACI Africa was founded in 2019. We provide free, up-to-the-minute news affecting the Catholic Church in Africa, giving particular emphasis to the words of the Holy Father and happenings of the Holy See, to any person with access to the internet. ACI Africa is proud to offer free access to its news items to Catholic dioceses, parishes, and websites, in order to increase awareness of the activities of the universal Church and to foster a sense of Catholic thought and culture in the life of every Catholic.