“Life is tough”: Apostolic Nuncio in Kenya Lauds Spiritans for Being “consolers” to Marginalized Communities

He added, “Life is full of pain, full of defeats and full of tears. And so, you need people around you who can console you and at the same time encourage you.”

“At the moment you console somebody, you also give him the strength to go ahead,” the Dutch-born Vatican diplomat said.

He underlined the need for the Church to always send out people to areas needing evangelization, saying, “The church continuously has to send out apostles, has to send out missionaries in order that that church, that the presence of Christ, that the presence of God may grow into the world.”

Credit: Catholic Diocese of Lodwar/Radio Akicha

In Kenya, the Apostolic Nuncio recalled, such evangelization started over 130 years ago, with the arrival of the Spiritans at the Kenyan Coastal town of Mombasa in 1889. “Very soon, also the Consolata followed,” he said, adding that evangelization efforts of the early missionaries yielded results because afterwards, the local people took over the work of evangelization and started to build the Church “on their own shoulders.”

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He said that the Church in Kenya has been built by the generosity of those willing to give their all and be the source of consolation to others.

This way, Archbishop van Megen said, “the Church slowly but surely grows.”

“It all started all with little steps. And you need to have good people… especially about your character, your heart. Where do you stand? What are you ready to give? And how much are you ready to give?” he said.

Credit: Catholic Diocese of Lodwar

The Apostolic Nuncio in Kenya following his appointment in February 2019 went on to reflect on the story of Barnabas, a man of Cyprus in the Acts of the Apostles, who sold his property and donated the proceeds to the apostles. “The apostles gave him the name of Barnabas, son of consolation,” he said.

Further reflecting on the May 8 election of Pope Leo XIV  as the Catholic Church’s 267th Pontiff, the Nairobi-based Apostolic Nuncio said that in the new Pope, he sees “a consoling spirit.”

Credit: Catholic Diocese of Lodwar/Radio Akicha

“God gave us a new Pope to console us, Leo XIV. He is like a consoling presence among us,” Archbishop van Megen said during the May 13 celebration in Lodwar Diocese.

He added, in reference to the new Pope, the 69-year-old American-born member of the Order of St. Augustine (OSA), “I never even saw him in reality. But this man is already such an inspiration, such a consoling inspiration to me. I believe that (in) Pope Leo XIV, we have truly a vicar of Christ in our midst. Pope Leo XIV is the one who comes to console the Church.”

Sabrine Amboka contributed to the writing of this story.

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