On 19 November 2024, we had the joy of sharing lunch and an unforgettable get-together with Mgr Rubén Darío Ruiz Mainardi, Archbishop-elect and recently appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Benin and Togo.
Mgr Rubén Darío, who came to Sedes as a seminarian from the diocese of Santo Tomé (Argentina), was the first student at our college to be ordained a priest. In the family conversation that followed lunch, he shared with us both memories of the early years of our college and some anecdotes - some of them certainly moving - of his already long career in the diplomatic service of the Holy See, in pontifical representations such as those of the Republic of Congo and Gabon, Central Africa and Chad, Slovenia and Macedonia, Cuba and France. He also emphasised the importance of maintaining a great pastoral heart and a close connection with the faithful, in whatever position one occupies in the Church.
We assure Don Rubén Darío of our prayers for the day of his episcopal ordination, which will take place on 14 December next in St Peter's Basilica.