With the title “The Bishop, servant of the Word and of the Church”, Omella started the series of conferences and workshops programmed for the gathering of Augustinian Recollect bishops. Beside him, at the presidential table, the dean of the participating bishops, Agustín Ganuza (emeritus of Bocas del Toro, Panama) summed up the lecture of his brother prelate with a spontaneous: “He knew how to summarize; one could see that he has been a professor”.
The Logroño bishop explained in a clear and concise manner the task of the bishop vis-à-vis the Word of God by utilizing, on this Pauline Year, the second letter of Saint Paul to Timothy, where we read: “I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you” (1:6). He continued by citing the Directory of Bishops, where it says that the shepherds have to be “men of faith, discernment, hope, meekness and communion”. They have to be true imitators of Jesus who have come to serve and not to be served. Saint Augustine explained this with his famous statement: “For you I am a bishop, with you I am a Christian”.
Missionaries
Omella, aware that the bishops gathered in San Millán are missionary shepherds, narrated his experience in the missions and put the model of the lay catechist as an example to export to the Old Continent: “Europe needs catechists and lay ministers of the Word”. He is convinced that Europe has much to learn from the young Churches of mission countries. He recalled the phrase of Saint Leo the Great wherein the pontiff asks the laity to be the vanguard of the Church: “Recognize, oh Christian, your dignity”, and once more recalled Saint Augustine’s insistence in his preaching: “We have been made Christians but, pay a greater attention, we have been made Christ”.
Another characteristic which Omella emphasized as essential to becoming a good bishop is that of communion, of unity. “One has to be bishop for all, to unite, and not to divide”. This, he insisted, is achieved by knowing well the whole Christian community and by listening, because “without listening, dialogue becomes a monologue”, paraphrasing Cardinal Ratzinger, present Benedict XVI.
At the end of the conference there was a dialogue with and among the rest of the brother bishops. The dean of the Augustinian Recollects pointed out that to all the characteristics enumerated by Omella to be a good bishop, one has to add those of joy and audacity.