By Dalphina Rubyema<\/p>\n
His Eminence Polycarp Cardinal Pengo, the Archbishop Emeritus of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania died hours after he landed back in the country from India where he has been undergoing treatment since late December 2025.<\/p>\n
Speaking during the morning prayer of Tanzania Episcopal Conference (TEC) Secretariat on Friday, February 20, the Secretary General Fr. Charles Kitima, said Cardinal Pengo died only hours after landing from India, where he had been undergoing treatment since December 27, 2025.<\/p>\n
He explained that while in India even though the Cardinal received good medical care, his health did not improve. As his condition continued to deteriorate, he requested to be returned to Tanzania. He was then flown back and was received on the evening of February 19, around 6:00 p.m, at Julius Nyerere International Airport, before being transferred to Jakaya Kikwete Heart Institute (JKCI) in Dar es Salaam where he died at 2200 hours.<\/p>\n
The TEC Secretary General said the Church in Tanzania has lost an important figure who fought tirelessly for the Church while upholding moral values in both the Church and the nation at large.<\/p>\n
He called on the faithful to pray for his repose, saying \u201cEveryone should pray for His Eminence Pengo so that God may forgive the sins he committed as a human being and receive him into his eternal dwelling\u2026 Let us not cease praying for him, for God listens to the prayers and supplications of each one.\u201d<\/p>\n
The faithful and Tanzanians in general will remember Cardinal Pengo for his gentle character and calm manner of speaking, even when addressing sensitive and weighty matters of faith or when criticizing political leadership systems, the government, and its leaders.<\/p>\n
Despite his gentle tone, he was a Church leader who was not afraid to speak the truth, even when that truth was unpopular with those in power.<\/p>\n
Among the issues he boldly addressed was the corruption scandal in Tanzania that intensified in the 2000s, where he emphasized that the theft of public resources is not only a legal offense but also a moral sin.<\/p>\n
Before his retirement, Cardinal Pengo continued working closely with TEC bishops in issuing statements and reflections on the future of the nation, including matters concerning General Elections and violence against innocent people.<\/p>\n
He was also a strong defender and guardian of moral values, urging families to prioritize formation according to the Social Teachings of the Catholic Church. Because of the importance he placed on moral formation, Cardinal Pengo gave strong support to the Pontifical Missionary Childhood Association, leaving a lasting mark in the Catholic Archdiocese of Dar es Salaam, where members proudly identify themselves as \u201cSisi ni Watoto wa Kardinali Pengo<\/em>\u201d (we are the children of Cardinal Pengo).<\/p>\n Biography<\/strong><\/p>\n Cardinal Polycarp Pengo was born on 5 August 1944. He was ordained a priest in 1971 by Bishop Charles Msakila. He studied Moral Theology in Rome at the\u00a0Pontifical Lateran University<\/a>, obtaining a doctorate in 1977. He taught Moral theology in\u00a0Kipalapala<\/a>\u00a0Theological Seminary for a short time, and then became the first Rector of\u00a0Segerea<\/a>\u00a0Theological Seminary in Dar es Salaam Archdiocese up to 1983.<\/p>\n He was made Bishop of\u00a0Nachingwea<\/a>\u00a0(now\u00a0Lindi<\/a>) in 1983\u00a0and of\u00a0Tunduru-Masasi<\/a>\u00a0in 1985. In 1990 he was named Coadjutor Archbishop of Dar es Salaam Archdiocese , and in 1992 he became\u00a0Archbishop of Dar-es-Salaam<\/a> following the resignation of Cardinal\u00a0Laurean Rugambwa<\/a>.<\/p>\n He proclaimed a\u00a0cardinal<\/a>\u00a0by\u00a0Pope John Paul II<\/a>\u00a0in the\u00a0consistory<\/a>\u00a0of 21 February 1998. Cardinal Pengo was one of the\u00a0cardinal electors<\/a>\u00a0who participated in the\u00a02005 papal conclave<\/a>\u00a0that elected\u00a0Pope Benedict XVI<\/a>\u00a0and in the\u00a02013 papal conclave<\/a>\u00a0that elected\u00a0Pope Francis<\/a>.<\/p>\n He has the following\u00a0Curial<\/a>\u00a0Memberships\u00a0Evangelization of the Peoples, Doctrine of Faith<\/a>\u00a0(congregations).\u00a0Interreligious Dialogue<\/a>, Culture (councils) Special Council for Africa of the General of the Synod of Bishops.<\/p>\n Since 2007 he has been president of the SECAM (Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar<\/a>). On 18 September 2012, he was appointed by\u00a0Pope Benedict XVI<\/a>\u00a0as a Synod Father for the October 2012 13th Ordinary General Assembly of the\u00a0Synod of Bishops<\/a>. Pope Francis<\/a>\u00a0accepted his retirement as archbishop on 15 August 2019.<\/p>\n On 19th February 2026, around 10: 00 pm as announced Archdiocese, Archbishop \u00a0Jude Thaddaeus Ruwa’ichi<\/a>,\u00a0OFM. cap<\/a>, he passed away while receiving treatment at the\u00a0Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute<\/a>\u00a0(JKCI).<\/p>\n May God grant eternal rest to His Eminence Polycarp Cardinal Pengo<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Dalphina Rubyema His Eminence Polycarp Cardinal Pengo, the Archbishop Emeritus of Dar es Salaam,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":24112,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-amecea-news","category-tanzania"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24111"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24111\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24114,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24111\/revisions\/24114"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}