A Mass of thanksgiving for the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Faustino Sainz Muñoz, was celebrated in Westminster Cathedral on Thursday 2 December at 5.30pm.
The Mass was celebrated by Archbishop Vincent Nichols, in the presence of Cardinal Cormac Murphy- O’Connor. During his homily, Archbishop Nichols referred to the Papal Nuncio’s involvement with the Papal Visit that took place in September 2010 saying: “The visit of the Holy Father lasted four days and we have also been blessed by almost 6 years of ministry of the representative of Apostle Peter’s successor and he too has shared in the apostolic ministry. The Nuncio has said to us that he was told that his task was to make present the pastoral heart of the Holy Father, we have seen for ourselves the pastoral heart of Pope Benedict and we have seen how well it is reflected and expressed in the ministry of our Nuncio. It is a heart of kindness, of sensibility, of humanity, of well chosen words and of joy. Pope Benedict won our hearts, Your Excellency, you have won our hearts too.”
In his homily, Archbishop Nichols paid tribute to the mission of Archbishop Sainz Muñoz and offered his heartfelt prayers for his recovery from ill health: “We Bishops have grown to see him as a brother and we will certainly miss him very much.”
Archbishop Sainz Muñoz has since retired, on health grounds, as Apostolic Nuncio in Great Britain (5 December 2010).
Archbishop Nichols’ homily: Apostolic Nuncio
Related
Address: Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Faustino Sainz Muñoz
(to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England & Wales)
We have a set on Flickr for the Thanksgiving Mass.
