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“Despite having achieved a lot … they remain humble, never showing off their titles, never showing the need to boast … they remain always ordinary men,” the Vatican diplomat said.
He added, “They are both hard workers; that is something we can emulate. The two were not chosen because they are excelling in intellectual gifts nor because of their administrative skills; Pope Francis chose them because of their quiet service, their moral rectitude, their spiritual fervor, their profound prayer life, and hard work.”
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“The kingdom of God is not built on the powerful and the mighty, nor on the bosses and the kings, but on the humble, the silent, and the ordinary people,” Archbishop van Megen said to underscore the virtues of two Bishops-elect he was about to consecrate, and added, “Christ is not looking for miraculous actions, beautiful words, or heroic deeds.”
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Meanwhile, in his remarks towards the end of the April 6 celebration, the Vatican diplomat, who started his service as Apostolic Nuncio in Sudan in 2014 highlighted the way of being Church that the ongoing Synod on Synodality, which Pope Francis extended to October 2024 has emphasized.
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“The speakers before me shared how the Catholic Church is not a Church closed in itself; we are not a sect; we open the doors and windows so that other people can get a bit of a sniff of the incense, all the people of faith and even those of non-faith, we as a Church are open to them, we serve them,” Archbishop van Megen said referring to the multi-year initiative under the theme, “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission”, the first session having taken place in Rome last October.
He acknowledged with appreciation the Episcopal collaboration he has witnessed in the East African nation, saying, “I am already like five years in Kenya and it has been years of grace, years of happiness, and feeling fortunate to be able to serve this great Church with these splendid and good Bishops we have.”
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