Faith meets history, art at Vatican embassy in Nairobi

Apostolic Nunciature in Nairobi where Pope Francis is staying during his three-day visit. PHOTO | SALATON NJAU 

By Stellar Murumba and Lynet Igadwah

In Summary

• To Catholics, items used by popes are not just souvenirs — they are sacred links to the pontiffs.

As the papal plane took off from the Leonardo Da Vinci Fiumicino Airport in Rome, at the Embassy of the Holy See off Nairobi’s Waiyaki Way, two chairs that have not been sat on for decades were being spruced up.

One of the chairs was used 20 years ago and the other 30 years ago by Pope John Paul II when he visited Kenya in 1980, 1985 and 1995.

It is these same chairs that Pope Francis, the humble Holy Father with a pared-down style, sat on during his visit to Kenya at two public forums.

During the Papal Mass at the University of Nairobi yesterday, the Pope sat on a handcrafted crimson chair with curved arms and cabriole legs. Designed in 1995, the chair has a papal crest carved on its apron and the image of a donkey on the head-rest.

And during his meeting with the youth at the Safaricom Kasarani Stadium today, the Pope will sit on a simpler white leather chair used by Saint John Paul II during his first two visits.

The Catholic Church says the decision to reuse the seats was informed by the Pope’s love for simplicity.

To Catholics, most of the items used by popes and stored at the Vatican Embassy in Nairobi, also known as Apostolic Nunciature, are not just souvenirs.

In the case of John Paul II, rooms and objects that he touched are not just impressive mementoes. Catholics see them as sacred links to a man who was canonised in 2014.

The Catholic Church in Kenya keeps several of the items that were used by Pope John Paul II in special storage rooms at the Resurrection Gardens and the Apostolic Nunciature.

By custom, the Pope sleeps in Vatican diplomatic quarters whenever they are available. Unlike other global leaders, the Pope never sleeps in a hotel. Tucked away in Lavington, the Apostolic Nunciature — which was built before Independence — is also where consultations in the Catholic Church happen.

“Apart from being the official residence of the Pope, it stands as a church where the faithful can come to worship with very minimal security,” said Rt Rev Bishop Norman King’oo Wambua.

The priesthood is also normally invited to the Holy See for important occasions in the church, including the after-Easter celebrations.

It is a top level diplomatic mission, the central point of reference for the Catholic Church everywhere and the focal point of communion.

To non-Catholics, little was known of the Vatican Embassy in Kenya before the pope’s visit. The Holy See is headed by Archbishop Charles Daniel Balvo.

Archbishop Balvo (Apostolic Nuncio Balvo) is an ambassador just like any other diplomat and the Embassy presents credentials just like any other.

He is also the Pope’s ambassador to South Sudan, acting as a go between the Vatican and the two countries.

It is the only Vatican representation in Kenya and is among the 119 Vatican diplomatic and consular representations abroad.

Unlike other embassies, the Holy See issues no visas and does not have consulates. A few days before Pope Francis arrived, there was hardly any security detail patrolling the residence.

Only regular security guards manned the entrance labelled Apostolic Nunciature of the Holy See (Vatican City) a day before the pontiff’s arrival.

No uniformed personnel lined the lane leading to the residence and the compound was devoid of any heavy military-grade vehicles. Access to the area is now restricted only to staff and anyone trying to take photos of even the gates of the residence without prior permission is accosted.

Before the Pope’ arrival, the most telling sign that an important guest was coming in was the popemobile, a white Toyota Hilux truck parked by the door of the house.

The Apostolic Nunciature also acts as a museum of sorts as artifacts and garments of historical value to Catholics are stored there. It also has a convent and monastery.

A few items worn by the late Pope John Paul II, who is now a saint, during his last visit to Kenya in 1995, were left behind for historical value. Just like the two seats he sat on.

Some of what Pope Francis wears like the cassock, the white long flowing clothing, will be left behind and kept at the Nunciature.

“These garments are held in high esteem, and when you go to Rome, you will even see bigger things in the museum,” he said Bishop Wambua.

The compound has important statues for the Catholic faith. Most Vatican museums globally hold one of the world’s greatest art collections. Home to masterpieces by Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Titian, they have always been a place sacred to the arts.

For many centuries, popes, cardinals, and the religious orders were responsible for the realisation of dozens of masterpieces.
So many of the treasures in the collections of the Vatican Museums in Rome depict a vibrant and vivid view into a world of beauty and faith.

Paul VI became the first Pope of modern times to set foot in Africa when he visited Uganda in 1969, while John Paul II, dubbed “The African” by a senior cleric, managed to visit a total of 42 countries on the continent during his long papacy.

Pope Francis will visit a shrine to Christian martyrs in Uganda and a mosque and a refugee camp in the Central African Republic.

At Uganda’s Apostolic Nunciature, where Pope Francis will sleep, the Chwa II Road leading to the Vatican Embassy had been recarpeted.

The facelift is intended to create more space to accommodate parking slots, a children’s play ground and to improve the general aesthetics of the area.

In yesterday’s Papal Mass, as the pontiff sat back in the same chair that Pope John Paul II had used many years ago, what many will perhaps remember most is his signoff speech; ‘‘Don’t forget to pray for me, because I mean it.’’ A statement so rich but which might not be engraved in history as the masterpiece artworks.

One of the artworks at the Vatican Museums is Michelangelo’s enormous painting which unites some 390 people around the central Christ figure, and almost all are naked.

The work depicts the resurrection of the dead and their separation into the saved and the damned.

Pope Francis, who signed a visitors’ book shortly after arrival in Kenya, is the third pontiff to visit Africa, a continent which now accounts for one in six of the world’s Catholics