“Church in Angola looks to you with admiration”: Nuncio to Consecrated Persons

In his July 26 address, the Italian Archbishop who also represents the Holy Father in São Tomé and Príncipe reflected on the qualities of true prophets.

“The prophet is first and foremost a man of God. His relationship is with God and that is why it is fundamental, in order to recover the meaning of prophecy, to rediscover the meaning of our relationship with God, to rediscover our relationship of faith with the Lord, because we do not become prophets by self-election, but by vocation, by calling from on high, prophecy is not an autogenous charism, but a gift that comes from on high,” he explained.

According to the 60-year-old Archbishop, “In a Church that sometimes runs the risk of losing itself in the efficiency of organization, or that runs the risk of losing itself in a purely horizontal dimension of the Gospel, we must, as consecrated persons, know how to discover the meaning of faith, that is, of adherence to the person of the Lord, of knowing how to be heart to heart with Him.” 

“The first commitment that characterizes the Lord's call is in fact to be with him, to learn to be with him; the rest follows as a consequence,” he said, and added, “The prophet is a man of God who lives a vertical relationship with the Lord, an upward relationship, but precisely because it is an upward relationship that requires an in-depth encounter.”

“That is why we are called to live prophecy as a recollection within ourselves,” he said.

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João Vissesse contributed in the writing of this story

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