Vatican Secretary of State praises former NZ Nuncio

Cardinal Pietro Parolin spoke at a funeral Mass in St Peter’s Basilica for Archbishop Novatus Rugambwa, who served in Aotearoa New Zealand from 2019 to 2023. The archbishop died on September 16 in Rome.

Cardinal Parolin described Archbishop Rugambwa as a man of deep interior life, pastoral sensitivity and diplomatic wisdom, who “responded without reservation to the gifts he had received”.

His diplomatic service, Cardinal Parolin noted, was not merely political but deeply rooted in the pastoral charity that guided his efforts to build bridges of peace and understanding between peoples and nations.

While in New Zealand, Archbishop Rugambwa suffered a significant stroke in October 2023, and moved to Rome in March 2024.

“After many years of work,” Cardinal Parolin said at the funeral Mass on September 25, “the Lord asked of him an even more demanding contribution: to suffer in union with Christ for the sanctification of the Church.”

He described Archbishop Rugambwa’s final months as a time of silent witness, during which his faith remained unwavering and his suffering became a source of grace for others.

The late archbishop now stands before God not with worldly accolades, but with the offering of a life lived in service, humility and love, the cardinal added.

Cardinal Parolin also highlighted the archbishop’s integrity and coherence of life, quoting St Paul VI, who once said, “Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers”. Archbishop Rugambwa, he noted, was both – but, above all, a witness whose quiet consistency gave weight to his words and presence.

The cardinal concluded his homily with a reflection on the Final Judgement, taken from the Gospel of Matthew, where those who served “the least of these” are welcomed into the Kingdom.

“This sensitivity to the voice of the poor,” said Cardinal Parolin, “was not an optional extra for Archbishop Novatus; it was central to his identity as a Christian and a priest.”

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Cardinal Parolin pays tribute to Archbishop Rugambwa at funeral Mass (By Sr Christine Masivo, CPS/Vatican News)