Philippine bishops got the chance to say goodbye to outgoing papal nuncio, Archbishop Edward Joseph Adams, at a special farewell dinner yesterday. The bishops praised Archbishop Adams for his outstanding service to the Church in the Philippines. The archbishop is being transferred to Greece after having spent almost three years in his present position. He is due to leave for his new post straight after Holy Week. Bishop Nereo Odchimar called Archbishop Adams a “father” figure. “I would like to consider myself fortunate to have met such a special person like you… learned to care so much about and this makes saying goodbye hard,” said Bishop Odchimar, president of the Catholic bishops’ conference. He lauded Archbishop Adams for his “solicitude” for the Church and its hierarchy. “We truly felt the sincerity of his friendship,” he said. He congratulated the outgoing papal envoy and presented him with three vestments in different colors. “Your presence in our midst is really an inspiration,” he said. You move on “to greater challenges in your new assignment, we accompany you with our prayers,” Archbishop Emeritus Ricardo Cardinal Vidal of Cebu told Archbishop Adams “Your work in the Philippines will bear much fruit… it is a legacy that we will cherish and remember,” he said. Archbishop Adams said he enjoyed his stay in the Philippines and urged the bishops to continue the church’s mission of “truth, kindness and charity.” “Being a human being is to dialogue … being with others, to listen to them, to talk to them, to understand them, to be understood by them, to love them and to be loved by them,” he said. “This should be the definition of a bishop … to be in the company of God, to participate in and to facilitate great conversation,” said Archbishop Adams. PM13728.1646