{"id":24140,"date":"2026-03-01T05:47:35","date_gmt":"2026-03-01T02:47:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/?p=24140"},"modified":"2026-03-01T05:47:35","modified_gmt":"2026-03-01T02:47:35","slug":"tanzania-family-recounts-an-inspiring-journey-from-childhood-to-the-cardinalate-of-cardinal-pengo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/2026\/03\/01\/tanzania-family-recounts-an-inspiring-journey-from-childhood-to-the-cardinalate-of-cardinal-pengo\/","title":{"rendered":"TANZANIA: Family recounts an Inspiring Journey from Childhood to the Cardinalate of Cardinal Pengo"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dalphina Rubyema<\/em><\/p>\n

It was midday on Saturday, August 5, 1944, when the family of Mzee Joseph Pengo and Mrs. Rozaria Nzyungu was blessed with a baby boy who was later baptized and given the name Polycarp. He was the sixth-born in the family, which was later blessed with three more children, bringing the total to nine.<\/p>\n

In his childhood, Polycarp did not appear different from other children. However, gradually within him began to blossom the call to serve God. This dream was nurtured by his parents as well as his elder sister, who significantly contributed to the cost of his education.<\/p>\n

Eventually, the dream of this young boy who once told his mother, \u201cI want to be Bishop Polycarp and a martyr,\u201d<\/em> came true. He joined the seminary and, after formation, became a priest, then a bishop, later an archbishop, and ultimately a cardinal.<\/p>\n

This is retired Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Dar es Salaam, His Eminence Polycarp Cardinal Pengo, who was called to the Lord on the night of Thursday, February 19, this year, while receiving treatment at the Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute (JKCI).<\/p>\n

His death has touched the entire nation. Cardinal Pengo was not only beloved by Catholic faithful but also respected by people of various backgrounds and ideologies both within and outside the country. He was known as a guardian and defender of moral values, unafraid to speak the truth, offer criticism, and give warnings whenever he saw things going wrong.<\/p>\n

What kind of child was Cardinal Pengo?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mrs. Hellena Khamsini, the younger sister of the late Cardinal Pengo, in a special interview with the Communications Directorate of the Tanzania Episcopal Conference (TEC), described her brother:<\/p>\n

\u201cHis Eminence Polycarp is my brother. He is the sixth-born, and I am the eighth\u2026 perhaps I cannot fully describe him because he was older than me, but from what I witnessed and what I was told by our mother and siblings, I describe him as follows.\u201d<\/p>\n

She says that in childhood, he was neither stubborn nor quarrelsome. Even while in the seminary, during holidays, he returned home and lived an ordinary village youth life.<\/p>\n

The difference between him and his peers appeared in his seriousness. While other youths spent holidays resting or participating in traditional dances, he was often at church, teaching the choir or gathering the St. Joseph youth.<\/p>\n

He also actively participated in household chores such as milking cows, farming with a hand hoe, and preparing bean ridges. After work, he spent much of his time reading books.<\/p>\n

Discipline that began in childhood<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mrs. Hellena recalls a childhood memory about roasting maize after returning from the fields. The children would take turns stirring the maize so it would not burn.<\/p>\n

She says Polycarp was firm in supervising this routine and sometimes insisted that everyone must participate, emphasizing his principle:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhoever does not work should not eat.\u201d<\/p>\n

In her view, even then her brother was teaching them discipline, self-reliance, and rejection of free handouts.<\/p>\n

Priestly journey and lesson to the family<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mrs. Hellena says Cardinal Pengo\u2019s diligence and discipline from his formation years became a great lesson to the family\u2014working hard, serving without pride, and relying on God.<\/p>\n

After ordination, he served as a bishop\u2019s secretary, went to Rome for studies, taught at Kipalapala Major Seminary, and later at Segerea Major Seminary as Rector. At Segerea he maintained the same philosophy of hard work; even he himself actively participated.<\/p>\n

He lived what he preached<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mrs. Khamsini emphasizes that throughout his ministry Cardinal Pengo encouraged family members to live morally and each to fulfill his or her vocation.<\/p>\n

Despite expectations from some relatives and villagers that he would materially improve their lives because of his position, he made it clear early on that he belonged to the Church and he demonstrated this in practice.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe did not use Church resources for family benefit. Our parents\u2019 house remained ordinary\u2026 I remember he built our mother a very simple house,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

However, she notes that he assisted in renovating Mwanzye Parish Church using his personal funds from gifts received during his 50th priestly jubilee.<\/p>\n

How the family received news of his illness and death<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mrs. Khamsini says the family was kept informed step by step about Cardinal Pengo\u2019s health, noting he had been suffering from heart problems and high blood pressure.<\/p>\n

She recounts that on the night of February 19 she received a call from Chancellor Fr. Vicent Mpwaji informing her that His Eminence had been called to the Lord.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were deeply hurt as a family\u2026 now I remain alone out of nine children! ,\u201d she says sorrowfully.<\/p>\n

The seed of priesthood continues to bear fruit<\/strong><\/p>\n

Despite the grief, the family takes pride in the seed of faith planted by His Eminence. Already Fr. Modest Pengo of the Holy Ghost Fathers (Spiritans) has emerged\u2014he is a grandson of the Cardinal\u2019s sibling.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is also Deacon Kiliani, completing his studies at Kipalapala Major Seminary and, God willing, expected to be ordained in July this year; he too is a grandson of the Cardinal\u2019s sister Ephrasia\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

These are the life moments of the late His Eminence Polycarp Cardinal Pengo, born in Mwanzye Village and Parish, Kalambo District, Rukwa Region. He served as Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Nachingwea, Tunduru\u2013Masasi, later Archbishop of Dar es Salaam, and until his death on February 19 this year, he was Archbishop Emeritus of the same archdiocese.<\/p>\n

The family continues to thank God for the gift of his life and prays that he may rest in eternal peace.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dalphina Rubyema It was midday on Saturday, August 5, 1944, when the family of Mzee…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":24141,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24140","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\/24140","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=24140"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24140\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24142,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24140\/revisions\/24142"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}