For the past week, I have been sequestered at the Ateneo Pontificio Regina Apostolorum in Rome, an institution about five miles west of St Peter’s Basilica. I’m here for the Formation for New Bishops programme, more colloquially known as “baby bishop school”. My colleagues are about 150 other bishops from around the world who have been appointed in the last 12 months.
The accommodation is fairly Spartan: my room reminds me of my quarters in the college seminary. The bed is about two-and-a-half feet wide, and there is no air conditioning. The meals, however, are tasty, and the conversations even tastier. In the course of the week, I’ve interacted with bishops from France, Canada, Venezuela, Iceland, Australia, Ireland, England, Mexico, Ghana, Tanzania and Guatemala. And I’ve been compelled to use all my linguistic skills – which are only OK – moving from English to decent French to mediocre Spanish to terrible Italian.
