“Prevention that begins after ordination begins late. Prevention that begins in formation shapes a person before the habits of authority have hardened.” — Bishop Luis Manuel Alí Herrera 

NAIROBI, Kenya (July 28, 2026) — Bishop Luis Manuel Alí Herrera, Secretary of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, visited Tangaza University on July 28, highlighting the central role of formation in building a lasting culture of safeguarding across the Church. 

Accompanied by Commission officials Dr. Claudia Giampietro and Dr. Francesco Pappalardo, and the Commission’s Regional African Experts Br. Fortune Chakasara and Patience Mwangi, Bishop Alí Herrera was welcomed by Vice Chancellor Rev. Prof. Patrick Mwania, CSSp. The visit also included Sr. Jane Wakahiu, LSOSF, of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, and Johanna Streit, head of the Safeguarding Department at Missio Aachen. 

The visit focused on Tangaza’s safeguarding initiatives and its growing reputation as one of Africa’s principal centers of religious formation. 

Founded in 1986 as a theological formation center serving religious congregations in the region, Tangaza has developed into a full university with schools of theology, education, social sciences, communication, leadership, and applied sciences and technology. It now forms seminarians from 24 congregations alongside religious sisters, lay students and students of other faiths from more than 20 countries. 

The university’s safeguarding work was presented by Sr. Jacinta Ondeng, SSND, chair of the safeguarding department. What began as a course within the School of Theology has evolved, in partnership with Missio Aachen, into a formation program reaching clergy, religious and catechists across Kenya and beyond. 

Sr. Jacinta noted that bishops have participated in the training alongside their priests and recalled one participant’s response: “I did not know that safeguarding was this rich.” 

The delegation also learned about the Safeguarding Initiative for Catholic Sisters, launched in February 2026. The initiative includes an e-learning course for women in initial formation, leadership development for professed sisters, survivor support, contextualized research and collaboration with Catholic sisters working in the legal profession. 

University leaders shared testimonies from former students, now serving in different parts of the world, who say the safeguarding formation they received at Tangaza continues to shape their ministry and leadership. 

Reflecting on the university’s work, Bishop Alí Herrera said the Church has increasingly come to understand safeguarding not only as a response to harm but as an essential dimension of formation itself. 

“For many years, the Church understood safeguarding mainly as a response, something done after harm had occurred. That response remains necessary. But we have come to understand something more. Safeguarding is also a form of formation. It shapes how a future priest, a future religious, a future leader will exercise authority for the whole of their ministry.” 

— Bishop Luis Manuel Alí Herrera 

He emphasized that prevention is most effective when it begins before patterns of leadership and authority are established. 

Drawing on the prophet Isaiah’s image of God engraving his people on the palms of his hands, the bishop described safeguarding as a commitment renewed over time through consistent choices and practices. 

“A culture of protection is never built in a single season,” he said. “It is built by the same choice, engraved again and again, over many years.” 

He encouraged the university community to sustain its efforts and assured participants that the Commission stands ready to accompany, learn from and share Tangaza’s experience with the wider Church. 

The visit formed part of a week of engagements in Nairobi that also included meetings with the AMECEA Secretariat, the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops, and participation in the African Conference for Catholic Sisters, Canon and Civil Lawyers.