PERSONAL witness to the message of Jesus was the strength of Pope John Paul II and remained the calling of all in the Church, Australia’s new apostolic nuncio, Archbishop Ambrose De Paoli said.
In his first opening address to an Australian Catholic Bishops Conference plenary meeting, which began on May 6, he said he was grateful and honoured to be appointed by Pope John Paul II.
Archbishop De Paoli told the bishops he had come with an open mind — ‘to know you, the Church that you serve, the peoples and the nation to whom you witness.’
He told the bishops he hoped they would find in him a friend, a helper and a collaborator.
He said in recent weeks the world had witnessed and participated in memorable events which had embraced not only the Church but the world itself.
The bishops’ plenary meeting finished on May 12.
