Lunch to welcome Holy See’s new envoy

Islamabad
To welcome the new Ambassador of the Holy See, The Nuncio Apostolic, Archbishop Ghaleb Bader and bid farewell to his deputy, Father Tomislav Dukez, the ambassador of Argentina, Rofolfo Martin Saravia hosted a lunch at his residence.
A few selected guests had been invited, including Ambassador of Cuba, Jesús Zenén Buergo Concepción and his spouse Dulce; the ambassador of Bosnia, Nedim Makarevic, the honorary consul of Chile, ambassador (r) Tarik Afridi and Cristina Afridi and a few others.
Thanking his guests for accepting his invitation, the host assured the Nuncio of full support from the community as well as himself, adding a few words about his interaction with previous envoys of the Holy See. Addressing Father Tomis — as he was generally called — the host was appreciative of the interesting homilies that were given by him as he always added a personal story or incident to make it more interesting. He also lauded the good work he had done for his parishioners and wished him all the best for the future, ‘We are sad to see you go,” he concluded.
The Nuncio responded with a simple ‘Thank you’ while Father Tomislav thanked the host and the guests and said he had an interesting and fruitful time in Pakistan. He thanked everyone for their support, especially those around the table and concluded with blessings for all.
On aside the Nuncio said he had a choice whether to go to another post or come to Pakistan but he chose to come here for a number of reasons, one of which was the country’s proximity to Jordan. Father Tomis, who hails from Croatia, told of how many years ago there was a Nuncio from Croatia posted in Karachi (before Islamabad was created) who had written letters from Karachi. “These letters reminded me a lot of Croatia,” he said, “and after reading them I was keen to come to Pakistan.” I was afraid to ask him how he compared the Pakistan of those days — a very tolerant and open society — with the one of today, because he would have given a diplomatic answer and not one which represents the reality of how it has changed!