05/30/2026
Cameroon counts a new Venerable today May 22, 2026
Brother Jean-Thierry of the Child Jesus and of the Passion enters into the history of the Church.
Great news has illuminated the Catholic Church in Cameroon this Friday, 22 May 2026. The Congregation for the Causes of Saints has recognised the heroic virtues of Brother Jean-Thierry of the Child Jesus and of the Passion, whose civil name was Jean-Thierry Ebogo. He has now been declared ‘Venerable’, a major step on the path towards beatification and then canonisation.
This great news appaears in a list that also contains a Capuchin Venerable. It reads:
Promulgation of Decrees of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, 22.05.2026
During the audience granted to His Most Reverend Eminence Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, the Supreme Pontiff authorized the same Dicastery to promulgate the Decrees regarding:
- the miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Servant of God Elias Hoyek, Patriarch of Antioch of the Maronites, Fouonder of the Congregation of Maronite Sisters of the Holy Family, born on 4 December 1843 in Helta, Lebanon, and died on 24 December 1931 in Bkerké, Lebanon;
- the martyrdom of the Servants of God Francisco González de Córdova and 79 companions, priests, religious, seminarians and lay faithful, killed in hatred of the faith between 1936 and 1937 in the territory of the diocese of Santander, Spain, in the context of the same persecution;
- the heroic virtues of the Servant of God Costantino Vendrame, professed priest of the Salesian Society of Saint John Bosco, born on 27 August 1893 in San Martino di Colle Umberto, Italy, and died on 30 January 1957 in Dibrugarh, India;
- the heroic virtues of the Servant of God Nazareno da P**a (né: Giovanni Zucca), professed religious of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, born on 21 January 1911 in P**a, Italy, and died on 29 February 1992 in Cagliari, Italy;
- the heroic virtues of the Servant of God María Ana Alberdi Echezarreta (née: María de la Conceptión Cruz), abbess of the Monastery of the Conceptionist Franciscan Sisters, born on 3 May 1912 in Azcoitia, Spain, and died on 27 November 1998 in Madrid, Spain;
- the heroic virtues of the Servant of God Jean-Thierry of the Child Jesus and of the Passion (né: Jean-Thierry Ebogo), professed religious of the Order of Discalced Carmelites, born on 4 February 1982 in Mfou-Awaé, Cameroon, and died on 5 January 2006 in Legnano, Italy.
This announcement is of historic significance for Cameroon. Jean-Thierry Ebogo has indeed become the second Cameroonian to receive this title, after Father Simon Mpecke, affectionately known as Baba Simon, who was declared Venerable on 20 May 2023. The Church in Cameroon thus sees confirmed, in the eyes of the world, the spiritual fruitfulness of its land and the depth of faith lived by its sons.
Born in Cameroon and inspired, from a very early age, by the desire to dedicate his life to God, Jean-Thierry Ebogo joined the Discalced Carmelites after a journey marked by piety, joy and a deep love for Christ. Struck by cancer whilst still very young, he transformed his suffering into a spiritual offering. Despite the amputation of a leg and the ordeal of his illness, he remained filled with an inner peace and a radiant faith that touched all who came into contact with him.
Having died in Italy in 2006, at the age of just 24, the young religious leaves behind a deeply moving testimony of a holiness lived out in simplicity, suffering and surrender to God. His diocesan beatification process, opened in Milan and subsequently forwarded to the Vatican, had already raised great hopes among the faithful in Cameroon. His mortal remains are laid in their monastery in Nkolbisson - Yaounde, Cameroon.
For Cameroon, this recognition goes beyond the purely religious sphere. It is a powerful sign of hope for a youth often faced with doubt, discouragement and a loss of bearings. Brother Jean-Thierry’s journey reminds us that a short life can become immensely fruitful when rooted in faith, courage and love.
This proclamation also opens up new horizons for the Church in Cameroon. It confirms that holiness is not the preserve of other continents or other centuries: it can blossom here, on Cameroonian soil, in our families, our parishes and our communities. With Baba Simon and now the Venerable Jean-Thierry Ebogo, the Church in Cameroon is seeing the emergence of local figures capable of inspiring the whole of Africa and the universal Church.
The people of God in Cameroon are now invited to continue praying so that a miracle recognised by the Church may soon lead to the beatification of the young Cameroonian Carmelite. A new chapter in the country’s spiritual history is being written.
