VATICAN - A unique experience which has enriched us enormously and strengthened our communion with the Pope and with all Bishops”: student Bishops share their impressions at the end of the study seminar organised by the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples.

Vatican City (Fides Service) - “We Bishops also need formation. We studied for the priesthood in the seminary and we had teachers who accompanied our journey of formation. When we are appointed Bishops our task becomes more difficult, there is more responsibility, there are more problems. This Seminar has given us encouragement for our pastoral government and it helped me to understand how important and profound our task is”: Archbishop Francisco Chimoio of Maputo, Mozambique, told Fides at the end of the Study Seminar which brought 118 newly appointed Bishops to Rome from 34 nations in Africa, Asia, Oceania, America. The Bishops voiced gratitude for the conferences, the atmosphere of brotherhood and sharing among themselves and with the Cardinal Prefect, they also wished to thank the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples for organising the Seminar.
For Bishop Ernest Sambou, Bishop of Saint-Louis, Senegal, the seminar was an important opportunity for formation: “this experience will prove most helpful to us in the government of our dioceses. The experts who gave the conferences helped us understand important matters concerning the Bishop’s ministry and how to face various difficulties we will inevitable meet”.
Bishop Gustavo Bombin Espino, O.S.S.T. Bishop of Tsiroanomandidy, Madagascar was particularly grateful for the opportunity to share experiences with other bishops and discuss common difficulties “We soon realised that many difficulties are common to all bishops and that discussion helps to solved them. I was appointed bishop only 7 months ago and I am convinced that a bishop should always have a chance to take a course like this before assuming his mission. The meeting with the Pope was very touching. It was the first time I have actually spoken to the Holy Father and I was impressed by his forceful presence... While here in Rome we have had a strong experience of the unity of the Church and the closeness of the Pope”.
The Bishops who came from Vietnam said the seminar had allowed them to experience the bond of communion with the Church and the Pope: “We were happy to have this opportunity to meet so many brother Bishops and for the spirit brotherhood established with bishops of Africa and America whom we may have never met otherwise.- Bishop Joseph Hoang Van Tiem, Bishop of Bui Chu, Vietnam told Fides-. To establish relations with Bishops from such different contexts is a way to increase knowledge and build communion in the Church”.
Bishop Alberto Ricardo da Silva, Bishop of Dili, East Timor underlined: “The seminar was a wonderful experience, I saw the Church of the whole world around me. This has been a most useful opportunity to broaden horizons and this is fundamental for a bishop. I would like to thank the Congregation of Propaganda Fide for organising the event. The contents were most interesting and will be of great help for my ministry”.
The Vicar Apostolic of San José di Amazonas, Peru, Bishop Alberto Campos Hernández OFM, stressed three important elements: “First of all the meeting with the Holy Father: we were all deeply touched to see him and to see how he cares about all our particular Churches. At the same time we realised our responsibility to be in communion with him, to pray for his wellbeing. The pilgrimage to Assisi gave us an opportunity to learn more about a man who chose to be poor, simple and humble and who achieved great things in the Church and is an example for us all. As a third point I would mention the subjects of the conferences: all most important for our formation and on which we reflected and applied our own concrete situations.”
“Since I was appointed Bishop only on April1, my main task now is to learn: this course has been most helpful and it will be useful for my duties in the diocese” Archbishop Michael Gilbert Meranville, Archbishop Fort-de-France, Martinique told Fides. “Speaking with the other Bishops I learned that many face difficulties which are more serious than mine such as poverty, persecution. For me this seminar has been a call to take courage, not to fear the mission entrusted to me because I know I can rely on the Lord who is at my side. I was deeply moved by the meeting with the Pope. His physical weakness was an encouragement and an example for us. We saw the heroism of this man who spares no effort to fulfil the mission entrusted to him by Christ.” (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 20/9/2004; Righe 53 - Parole 743)