The outgoing Papal Nuncio Archbishop Giuseppe Pinto said the Filipinos’ deep faith and resilience in the wake of Supertyphoon Yolanda (international code name Haiyan) had a huge impact on him.
Speaking at a send-off gathering for him at Pius XII Center in Manila on July 31, the archbishop said that with the inspirations he learned in the country, “I could say that I received much more than I gave.”
“I will bring with me wonderful memories of the Filipino people who, in spite of their many hardships and trials, remain resilient supported by resolute faith in God,” Pinto added.
“They do not ask God to provide only for their material needs but rather to abandon themselves to Him as their Father. They believe that God is greater than all their needs,” he added.
Arranged by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), the simple gathering drew dozens of prelates, including Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila, and his predecessor, retired Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales.
For the bishops, the nuncio will also be remembered for his role at the height of Yolanda when he went to Leyte and immersed himself with the suffering of the people.
It was during his watch that biggest calamities befell on the Philippines—earthquakes and typhoons and even man-made disasters.
In those times, Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas, CBCP president, said Archbishop Pinto was “a pastor, a father, a brother and friends to the Filipinos.”
“We saw that very clearly at the height of Yolanda. He showed us the face of the Lord which is mercy and compassion,” Villegas said.
He added it was also during Pinto’s term that Filipinos were “blessed” with the visit of Pope Francis.
“Pope Francis, like Archbishop Pinto, has shown us the face of Jesus, God of compassion, God of mercy,” Villegas said.
With the “wisdom of a pastor and a prudence of a Church diplomat,” he also guided the bishops, the clergy and the lay Filipinos during the 51st International Eucharistic Congress that was held in Cebu in 2016 and the fourth World Apostolic Congress on Mercy held in Manila and nearby dioceses in January.
After six years in the Philippines, the 65-year-old Italian prelate is leaving next week for his new post in Eastern Europe.
On July 1 Pope Francis appointed Pinto to serve the same position in Croatia, a country with around 4.2 million population and where Catholicism is the dominant religion.
It will be his seventh assignment as papal ambassador ever since he entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See in 1984.
For his part, Tagle thanked the nuncio for his “trust and confidence” on the Filipino church leaders. “And wherever you are, know that you have a home here in the Philippines and you will always have a home in our hearts,” Tagle said.
Bishop: Pray the rosary
Meanwhile, amid violence and terrorism, a Catholic bishop called on families to pray together for peace in Mindanao and throughout the country.
Dipolog Bishop Severo Caermare’s urged Catholics families to pray the rosary, seeking the intercession of the Blessed Mother in restoring peace and ending attacks on the family.
“It is my fervent prayer that our Golden Jubilee will lead us to [the] revival of the rosary in Christian families for this is an effective aid in countering the devastating effects of the crisis in the family,” the prelate said.
The prelate made the call in his homily at a Mass to celebrate the diocese’s Golden Jubilee at the Most Holy Rosary Cathedral on July 31.
“May we be comforted by the tendencies of a mother and her motherly protection that would lead us to value prayer and the urgent call to conversion,” he said.
He added it is “providential” that the diocese’s 50th anniversary coincided with the centenary of the Fatima apparitions in which Mary introduced herself as the Our Lady of the Holy Rosary.
The prelate said the celebration is also an opportunity for the “greater appreciation of the Eucharist” and for church people to minister to the poor, and lead in the campaign to protect the environment.
“With the spirit of communion it is also our mission to reach out, especially those who are in the peripheries, the unchurched and the youth,” he added.
Image credits: Roy Lagarde