Bishop Iffert returns to United States from Africa, having met with local Church, faithful

Maura Baker

Staff Writer

From July 12 to August 3, Bishop John Iffert travelled halfway across the globe to Africa. His trip took him to the countries of Kenya and Madagascar on the East side of the continent, where he met with African bishops and religious sisters, visited the humanitarian compound Akamasoa (“good friends” in Malagasy) in Madagascar and even encountered briefly wildlife such as a white rhino in Kenya and lemurs in Madagascar.

As a member of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishop’s Subcommittee for Solidarity with the Church in Africa, Bishop Iffert’s trip first had him attending a meeting of the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA) in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.

With one session every three years, Catholic bishops from Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Uganda, Kenya, South Sudan, Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia and associate members Somalia and Djibouti all come together. This year, Bishop Iffert alongside USCCB consultant Fritz Zuger, attended the session for dialogue on how the USCCB Subcommittee for Solidarity with the Church in Africa’s yearly national collection — which genereates three and a half million dollars annually given as grants to the Church in Africa — can best support the needs of the people in these nations. While the Diocese of Covington has previously never taken the subcommittee’s collection for Africa, the diocese plans to begin taking it in 2027 as part of the international missions collection, according to Bishop Iffert.

“This year, the plenary session focused on accompanying young people,” Bishop Iffert said. “Young people from all of these countries came to Nairobi to give their input to the bishops on how they thought the Church could better accompany them as young Catholics.”

While in Nairobi, Bishop Iffert also visited the Sisters of Notre Dame there.

“The Sisters of Notre Dame were founded in East Africa by two sisters from Covington and two from California,” he said, “and started their presence there.”

The Sisters of Notre Dame now have their own province in East Africa, with Bishop Iffert visiting one of their houses of studies and one of their schools.

After Nairobi, Bishop Iffert and Mr. Zuger flew to the island nation of Madagascar, where they visited the National Episcopal Conference there — meeting with Malagasy bishops and staff of the conference and Catholic Relief Services and continuing dialogue of how the USCCB can best assist the nation’s needs.

“The whole mission was to get to know people,” Bishop Iffert said, “to get to know the Church and again to help them understand what our program can do and how we can help them.”

Bishop Iffert’s final visit on the trip was to Akamasoa. Founded in 1989 by Vincentian missionary Father Pedro Opeka, the compound of houses built to aid Madagascar’s poor has turned into a proper community and humanitarian effort — providing food, shelter and education.

The late Pope Francis, who visited Akamasoa himself in 2021, said “This is what one priest can accomplish. This is what one life can accomplish when they follow the will of God,” Bishop Iffert quoted.

“It was just extraordinary,” Bishop Iffert said, reflecting on a Mass of around 5,000 people held at the parish in Akamasoa. “Madagascar is the ninth poorest country in the world … extraordinary poverty, and they’re really struggling to develop. There’s a lot of political corruption there.”

Bishop Iffert commented further on the volunteers and missionaries at Akamasoa. “Just so many good people,” he said, “So many holy people who want to contribute to the life of this church. It was a wonderful visit.”