Archbishop Marino on value of
missionary year for Vatican diplomats
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| Pope Francis shakes hands with Archbishop Joseph Marino on 15 March 2018 (Vatican Media) |
The President of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy
speaks about the Pope’s directives regarding the formation of Vatican
diplomats.
By Gabriella Geraso
Archbishop Joseph Marino, the new President of the
Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, speaks to Vatican Radio about Pope
Francis’ directives in relationship to the formation of Vatican nuncios.
He said that a missionary experience is one of conversion,
which pushes us out of ourselves and opens us to the realities of those
Churches and countries that are most in need of the presence of the Holy
Father.
On Saturday, 1 February, I was received in audience by the
Holy Father; during this audience he told me that he had already decided to
make the missionary experience part of the formation that takes place in the
Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy. At that time, and as he did in his letter,
Pope Francis made it very clear that the formation to which he refers is
fundamentally priestly and pastoral and by extension must include missionary
experience and formation. If we look at the pontificate of Pope Francis, since
his election he has repeated several times that he dreams of a missionary
Church, an outgoing Church. And I think that we must return to reading the
“Evangelii gaudium” because this document contains the vision that Pope Francis
has of the Church. And certainly, we as representatives must have the same
spirit and the same vision. This vision actually has a transformative effect on
all of us because it asks of us a true conversion of going out of ourselves,
out of our personal interests and moves us to embrace those Churches, those
countries even, which need the paternal presence of the Holy Father most. For
this reason, the missionary experience - and I am reflecting a lot on this in
the last few hours since I received this letter - can be considered a kind of
spiritual exercise for our own conversion, to be able to serve in and for the
Church.
Q: In his letter the Pope speaks of the growing
challenges for the Church, for the world; growing challenges that await
the students of the Academy. We must respond with priestly and pastoral
formation, but also with the specific formation of your Academy. Can you
explain to us more clearly how the Academy's formation process works?
Life in the Academy is first and foremost the life of a
community of priests, and I like to consider the time spent in this institution
as an opportunity to deepen our priestly life and to constantly develop a truly
profound pastoral spirit. Only in this way, I believe, can we be true and
effective ambassadors of the Church. I remember my study here, in the Academy,
when one of the Readers said that before we were diplomats, we were priests,
and that the people to whom we are sent, including our diplomatic colleagues,
would look at us and examine us first of all as priests, before considering us
diplomats. The Academy also provides courses in diplomacy, which are necessary
in our work.
Q: The reform desired by the Pope will come into
force in the year that begins, 2020-2021. Can you also tell us how many
students it will be affected? Where they are from? And if you already know,
what they think about it ...
In his letter the Pope clearly says that this new course
will begin to be effective with regard to those students who will enter the
Academy from the month of September 2020: these will be the first to
participate directly in this missionary experience.
Q: How will the destination for the missionary
experience be chosen? And with whom will the Academy be collaborating?
These elements are being worked on; I am confident that I
can count on nuncios around the world to contribute to the formulation,
implementation and support of this new aspect of Academy training. One thing is
certain: by having this missionary experience in the different countries, we
will be able to witness first-hand the joyful and dedicated work of the
missionary, bringing the Gospel in all its facets. And I think that this will
give us even more enthusiasm in our work as diplomats for the Holy See.
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