Catholic Teacher, Formator Called “to be an example” of Christian Values: Apostolic Nuncio in Kenya

“Let us create that home for our students,” the Nairobi-based Apostolic Nuncio, who also represents the Holy Father in South Sudan emphasized.

He went on to challenge Catholic teachers to recognize the need “to be exemplary” in their professional duties. “You are not just transmitting truth and knowledge but yourselves in essence need to be truth and knowledge. You need to be exemplary in your ways of life,” he said.

The Catholic Archbishop, who started his service as Apostolic Nuncio in Sudan following his appointment in March 2014 highlighted the essence of Catholic education, which Catholic teachers and formators need to foster. 

Catholic education, he said, is “something about the beauty of God so that the child may be in love with this beauty of creation and yearn to know more about it.”

“Catholic education is also about Catholic and Christian humanism; God’s presence extends beyond Holy Mass, beyond prayer into the secular world,” the Apostolic Nuncio in Kenya since his appointment in February 2019 said at the opening of CaPEIA-K conference organized under the theme, “Catholic Schools: Hubs of Foundational Learning and Integral Formation for Holistic Growth”.

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He urged Catholic teachers and formators to foster good interpersonal relationships in their respective lives, saying that is part of Catholic education. 

“You don’t teach the group; you teach every student and try to have an eye for his or her personal development,” Archbishop van Megen said.

Personal development, he went on to say, “is not only rational, not even only psychological but also physical in sports but also spiritual in the spirit of Catholic tradition.”

Speaking at the same event on April 16, the Chairman of the Commission for Education and Religious Education (CERE) of the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB), Bishop Paul Njiru Kariuki, lamented the rise in road accidents involving vehicles of learning institutions in Kenya.

“We must ensure that school vehicles used during trips are mechanically sound, insurance are up to date and drivers engaged are competent to handle the vehicles,” Bishop Kariuki said, and urged relevant Kenyan authorities “to provide comprehensive measures to safeguard” travelers.