BQ 835 – 15/2025
ISHR Leadership Visits Apostolic Nuncio in Senegal, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau and Mauritania

15. February 2025

(Bonn, 15.02.2025) After visiting the Government and Parliament of Cape Verde, including a meeting with Cardinal Arlindo Gomes Furtado, Bishop of Santiago de Cabo Verde, and en route to Mauritania, the leadership of the International Society for Human Rights (ISHR) visited the Apostolic Nuncio for Senegal, Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau and Mauritania in Dakar, the capital of Senegal.

The Apostolic Nunciature in Senegal is the diplomatic mission of the Holy See in Senegal, Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau and Mauritania. The Apostolic Nuncio to Senegal is an ecclesiastical office of the Catholic Church in Senegal with the rank of ambassador. The nuncio serves both as the Holy See’s ambassador to these countries and as the point of contact between the Catholic hierarchy in these countries and the Pope.

Nuncio Waldemar Stanislaw Sommertag (born 1968) is a Polish prelate of the Catholic Church who works in the diplomatic service of the Holy See. He was appointed as archbishop in 2018 and served as nuncio to Nicaragua from 2018 to 2022.

Archbishop Thomas Schirrmacher and Matthias Boehning discussed their experiences in Cabo Verde and their plans for Mauritania with the Nuncio. Another important topic was the situation in Nicaragua.

Archbishop Sommertag shows Matthias Boehning and Thomas Schirrmacher his Bishops cross © Martin Warnecke

Sommertag’s tenure in Nicaragua was marked by efforts to defuse tensions between the government and the political opposition, although the government, like the Catholic Church leadership in general, increasingly saw him as an ally of its critics. For three years he quietly assisted in negotiations between the government and the families of its imprisoned critics, winning the release of some, but then began to use the term “political prisoners”. On November 18, 2021, the Nicaraguan government decreed the abolition of the title “Dean of the Diplomatic Corps”, traditionally given to the representative of the Holy See in Catholic countries. On March 6, 2022, he left Nicaragua after the government withdrew its recognition of his diplomatic status and ordered him to leave the country. The move came amid growing conflict between the Church and the dictatorship of President Daniel Ortega. On September 6, 2022, Pope Francis appointed him Apostolic Nuncio to Senegal, Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau and Mauritania. In a statement, the Vatican praised the work Sommertag had done in Nicaragua mediating the freeing of many of these political leaders. Sommertag “worked tirelessly for the good of the church and the Nicaraguan people, especially for the most vulnerable, always seeking to favor good relations between the Apostolic See and the Authorities of Nicaragua. His participation as a witness and accompanier of the National Dialogue Table between the Government and the political opposition, in view of national reconciliation and the release of political prisoners, deserves particular mention.”

Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva Prime Minister explains the basic pillars of his government program to Schirrmacher and Boehning, while underlining Cabo Verde’s role model function for other African states (January 14, 2025) © Martin Warnecke

Another topic was the experience of interreligious dialogue in Senegal, as in mid-2024 the Catholic Church helped launch the Interreligious Council for Peace of Senegal. Bringing together representatives of Islam, the Catholic Church, Protestant churches and traditional religions, the Council’s mission is to anticipate and defuse conflicts and to promote peace, social cohesion, reconciliation and development in Senegal and in West Africa as a whole. As a result, on February 1, 2025, Sommertag and 20 Catholic prelates participated for the first time as guests of honor in major Muslim activities in Senegal.

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Photo 10: The 16th century Portuguese fortress of São Filipe is situated on a plateau above the town centre of Cidade Velha © Martin Warnecke
Photo 11: Eurídice Mascarenhas, president of the National Commission for Human Rights and Citizenship of Cabo Verde (CNDHC), gives Schirrmacher and Böhning an overview of the development of the human rights situation in the island country welcoming the initiative for further cooperation © Martin Warnecke
Photo 12: The President of Cabo Verde José Maria Neves receiving a Delegation led by Thomas Schirrmacher and Matthias Boehning on January 14, 2025. The guests express their respect and admiration for the democratic development of Capo Verde towards the head of state © Martin Warnecke
Photo 14: Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva Prime Minister explains the basic pillars of his government program to Schirrmacher and Boehning, while underlining Cabo Verde’s role model function for other African states (January 14, 2025) © Martin Warnecke
Photo 15: Dona Maria Pia Lighthouse is located at the southernmost point of the Island of Santiago, near the entrance of Praia Harbour © Martin Warnecke
Photo 16: Archbishop Waldemar Stanisław Sommertag, since September 2022 serving as the Apostolic Nuncio to Senegal, Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau and Mauritania, is welcoming Thomas Schirrmacher and Matthias Boehning at his residence in Dakar, Senegal (January 15, 2025) © Martin Warnecke
Photo 17: Sommertag presents to Schirrmacher and Boehning an insightful report on the coexistence of the various religious communities in Western Africa as well as on the current trends in religious freedom in the region © Martin Warnecke
Quotes about the Nuncio: https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2022/03/vatican-calls-expulsion-of-envoy-in-nicaragua-incomprehensible
About Archbishop Waldemar Stanisław Sommertag: https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bsomm.html
Wikipedia entry on Archbishop Waldemar Stanisław Sommertag: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldemar_Stanis%C5%82aw_Sommertag

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