Polycarp Pengo

Polycarp Pengo (5 August 1944 – 19 February 2026) was a Tanzanian prelate of the Catholic Church who was Archbishop of Dar-es-Salaam, from 1992 to 2019. A bishop from 1983, he was made a cardinal in 1998.

Biography Polycarp Pengo was born on 5 August 1944. He was ordained a priest in 1971 by Bishop Charles Msakila. He studied Moral Theology in Rome at the Pontifical Lateran University, obtaining a doctorate in 1977. He taught Moral theology in Kipalapala Theological Seminary for a short time, and then became the first Rector of Segerea Theological Seminary in Dar-es-Salaam up to 1983.

He was made Bishop of Nachingwea (now Lindi) in 1983, and of Tunduru-Masasi in 1985.

In 1990 he was named Coadjutor Archbishop of Dar es Salaam, and in 1992 he became Archbishop of Dar-es-Salaam, following the resignation of Cardinal Laurean Rugambwa.

On 18 September 2012, he was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI as a Synod Father for the October 2012 13th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops.

Pope Francis accepted his retirement as archbishop on 15 August 2019.

On 19 February 2026, Pengo died while receiving treatment at the Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute (JKCI). He was 81.

Views Homosexuality In 2000, Pengo hit out at the commission of homosexual acts, saying it was one of the most heinous sins on earth.

Clashes in Tanzania In 2004, he lashed out at the perpetrators of clashes claiming to pursue a religious cause.

Church teaching on AIDS

Pengo has declared that the AIDS epidemic cannot be overcome by relying exclusively or primarily on the distribution of prophylactics, but only through a strategy based on education to individual responsibility in the framework of a moral view of human sexuality.