The new Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Tommaso Caputo, yesterday recalled the thoughts of Pope Benedict XVI when he appointed him to the post in Malta, when the Holy Father wrote to him “Beloved son, as you take up this onerous office, I exhort you with the words of the Apostle Saint Paul, whom, in times past, the inhabitants of Malta welcomed with uncommon kindness (cfr. Acts 28,2), and I would urge you to bear them constantly in mind: I do not mean to imply that we lord it over your faith; rather, we are workers with you for your joy, because you stand firm in the faith”.
Mgr Caputo was speaking at the start of his mission in Malta, in a homily he made at St John’s Co-Cathedral to mark the feast of the Immaculate Conception. He added that these words of the Apostle our father Saint Paul “echoed deeply in my heart, while drawing near to Malta and on being welcomed here with “particular affection” by Their Excellencies the Bishops, by the Head of Protocol representing the government, and by other distinguished personalities, both clerical and lay.
He said it had always been a matter of no small encouragement and consolation to him, in his previous missions in Africa (Rwanda), in Asia (Philippines), and in Latin America (Venezuela), to encounter zealous Maltese missionaries: “with some of them I struck up a warm and brotherly friendship. These missionaries reflected the vitality of Christian life in this God-graced country. Saint George Preca, with the Blessed Adeodata Pisani and Ignatius Falzon, scions of this noble nation, are today exemplars of Christian life for the whole Church.”
“Yes, indeed, the Holy Father, in committing St Paul’s words to me for my guidance, has supplied me with a unique programme of life and work: ‘I do not mean to imply that we lord it over your faith; rather, we are workers with you for your joy, because you stand firm in the faith’ (2 Cor 1,24). My sole desire is to be the co-worker of your joy: the joy that means discovering and re-discovering the presence of Jesus in our lives and in the midst of Malta’s Christian people, the joy that means emulating one another in the exercise of communion, in love, in unity, on the model of the Most Blessed Trinity.”
Speaking of his mission, Mgr Caputo said Papal Representatives, the Apostolic Nuncios, who today operate in 178 countries had as a principal task “that of rendering firmer and more effective the bonds of unity between the Apostolic See and the local Churches (CIC can, 364). It is also the task of the Papal Representative to promote and sustain good relations between the Holy See and the Authorities of State, as well as to treat questions concerning relations between Church and State, with the advice and counsel of the local Bishops (CIC can. 365).”
“The Papal Representative is, in this way, at the service of communion within the Church, an instrument of communion in the service of the Petrine charism.”
Referring to the feast they were marking he asked “what is the relevance, the actuality of today’s celebration of the Immaculate Conception? Does it still have a meaning in a world like ours, in a society marked by a hedonistic view of life? Does it make sense to discourse of a truth so lofty that to a profane ear it may even sound mythical?
“It is precisely when the darkness is thickest that a man has need of light to continue on his way. Today’s feast is a beacon of light and hope for him who does not see light, for him who does not seem to have hope.”