The Mons

These two holy images adorn the small chapel in the Catholic Bishops' Conference building where I have my desk with the Catholic Commission on Migration.  They are the pride of our Monsignor V, one of the characters of my Bangkok.  Monsignor names himself as the parish priest of the Bishops' Conference, a role which he fills gallantly and with his own style. In his role, he is someone who brings a whole new and needed approach to this sometimes staid Church of Thailand.  I like the guy. 

The Mons comes to us after having spent over 25 years in the diplomatic corps of the Holy See.  He knows and loves Rome, while having had postings in Ireland, Indonesia, Ethiopia.   After such experiences and a life lived on the international level of both world and Church, he now adds to the Thai Church a much needed level of sophistication.  I say this as I would name that this Church lacks an appreciation of the universal Church, of belonging to a body that is much wider than itself.   

The Mons is ever friendly and hospitable, being ever so human with others.  He is a transparent human being who is just so funny and appealing while he talks seriously about the issues of his daily life.  For me in my Bangkok, he is a breath of fresh air.

I do not share this so as to be able to praise the Monsignor.   Rather my wish is to share one of my characters in my Bangkok and what he brings to it - a healthy sense of the outrageous and a sense of new life.  The two images shown here may not seem much to others but they speak heaps of who the Mons is to those around him for they symbolise two of my experiences of him. 

One is his generosity as he bought these himself and placed them in the chapel simply because he values them and wants to share them with the community.  The other is that the crucifix is a rather non- traditional style, and it is this that the Mons openly shares with us, another way of being and presenting Church.  I appreciate both sides of who he is to us, his parishioners, as he so happily names us. 

My characters in my Bangkok are numerous and varied.  Some are a bit questionable but all, like the Mons, are likeable characters, living life in their own unique style.  They take that extra step in life and in doing so offer to those around them a bit more than the usual, a taste for what life could be if only we ventured out a bit more and did things a bit differently.