Mission and Aid · October 25, 2026
Vatican Signs Agreement with Republic of Honduras
On the morning of Thursday, October 22, at 9:30 a.m., an agreement was signed by the cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State, and by Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah, President of the Republic of Honduras, at the Treaty Room of the Vatican Apostolic Palace.
The agreement, according to a statement, consists of 25 articles that solidify the existing good bilateral relations, protect the legal personality of the Church, and promote fruitful collaboration between the Church and the State in the promotion of the common good and the spiritual, human, and cultural values of the Honduran people. It aims to further ensure religious freedom, including the freedom of worship, and consequently the freedom of the Church in carrying out its mission, in accordance with the Declaration Dignitatis Humanae of the Second Vatican Council.
The bilateral agreement reaffirms the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, in line with international human rights instruments. The State recognizes the Church's right to act according to its own rules, to self-govern, and to freely appoint its ministers of worship. Additionally, it guarantees the right to conscientious objection and protects the inviolability of sacramental confidentiality, without conditions or limitations, as well as the confidentiality of pastoral agents, akin to that of confession.
The Church's right to establish educational and charitable institutions is also acknowledged, as well as to provide spiritual assistance and pastoral care to individuals in social, educational, health, and penitentiary institutions, whether public or private. Furthermore, pastoral care for members of the armed forces and police will be facilitated.
The new agreement, which will undergo the ratification procedures stipulated in the respective legislations, will enter into force on the day of the exchange of ratification instruments. A cordial conversation took place during the signing ceremony, where the positive contribution of the Church to the human, social, and cultural development of the country was acknowledged, and some topics of common interest at the regional and international level were discussed.