February 15, 2022, marked three years since the appointment of his Excellency Archbishop Hubertus Matheus Maria van Megen to the Apostolic Nunciature to Kenya and South Sudan.  Interestingly, for the first time, a bishop in Kenya was also appointed from the Papal Diplomatic Service, Rt. Rev.  Mark Kadima, former Vatican Charge d’affaires in South Sudan. As he takes over the See of Bungoma, Lourine Oluoch interviews Archbishop Bert Van Megen, on the current issues in the Church, the Synod, his experience working in Kenya, and the peace deals in South Sudan.

Who is Archbishop Bert Van Megen?

Archbishop Bert was born in 1961 in the Netherlands to a family of three children. I did all my studies in the Netherlands and was ordained priest in 1987.  I was a parish priest in the Netherlands.  In 1990, I was called to Rome to prepare for the diplomatic service, which was the wish of my bishop who asked me to join the diplomatic service of the Holy See.

I did my studies in Rome because there is a specific school for the diplomatic service Read more