Visit from Papal Nuncio – Archbishop Charles Balvo

On Tuesday 18 October, the College hosted a visit from the Apostolic Nuncio to Australia His Excellency Archbishop Charles Balvo. The Apostolic Nunciature is an ecclesiastical office of the Roman Catholic Church and is a diplomatic post of the Holy See, whose representative is called the Apostolic Nuncio with the rank of an ambassador.

The reason for the visit was to give Archbishop Charles an opportunity to meet with our Year 12 students as he will be celebrating their Graduation Mass in the Cathedral on 30 November.

Archbishop Charles is a native of New York City and shared with the students reflections on his career and role as the Pope’s representative. As a young man he completed his schooling at the minor seminary before going on to seminary studies and in 1976 was ordained to the priesthood. Post graduate studies took him to Rome. He was expecting to live a life as a parish priest in the diocese of New York but was invited to join the Vatican’s Diplomatic Service. After serving in Apostolic Nunciatures in South America (Chile), Africa, Europe (Czech Republic) and the Middle East, in 2005 Archbishop Charles was appointed Apostolic Nuncio to New Zealand and several Pacific Island nations. He was also Apostolic Delegate to the Pacific Ocean.

In 2013, he was named Apostolic Nuncio to Kenya and took on responsibility for South Sudan after the country was established. While posted in Kenya, Archbishop Charles also served as Permanent Observer to the United Nations Environment Program and Human Settlements Program.

Archbishop Charles took up his posting to Australia in March of this year and is gradually learning more about the country, the culture and the people. The Year 12 students are looking forward to meeting Archbishop Charles again at their Graduation Mass.

Peter Hawes
Assistant Head of School, Mission and Identity