The Goan Cultural Centre hosted the recent gathering in Kuwait City, which opened with a short prayer led by Rev. Fr. Nelson Lobo and featured tributes from several community leaders. Floyd Paise, Lana DeMelo, Rabin Gonsalves, Dr. Jaganath Chowdankar and Revon D’Souza highlighted Archbishop Nugent’s pastoral care and engagement with the Christian community throughout his tenure that ran from January 2021 until this month. Organizers noted that attendees praised the nuncio’s warmth, accessibility and the personal bonds he built across the Goan group and broader Kuwaiti society.
Carmo Santos, who serves as president of the Goan Cultural Centre, organized the evening and presented the archbishop with a memento alongside Carrie Santos. Santos, described by the centre as a prominent entrepreneur and philanthropist, thanked Nugent for his service while emphasizing the personal qualities of encouragement, dialogue and friendship that defined his time in the role. The centre’s account added that Santos connected the occasion to Goan heritage through faith and commended a cultural program featuring performances by children.
Archbishop Nugent offered brief remarks in response, expressing gratitude for the support he received. “You warmed your support to me during my years here in Kuwait. The memories I will cherish as I leave this beautiful country are of meeting you, celebrating with you and praying with you on so many occasions,” he said at the event. Nugent thanked the centre for what he called the beautiful gift, shared a lighthearted seminary anecdote about the three rules of public speaking and voiced regret at not having visited Goa while hoping to do so soon.
Santos responded with prayers for the archbishop’s upcoming mission, invoking the Holy Spirit and Our Lady of Arabia while wishing him success in building bridges and strengthening relationships. The gathering closed with a thanksgiving prayer, a song performed by Loraine Santos and Carrie Santos, and a communal dinner. Community members stressed the phrase “until we meet again” rather than a final goodbye, according to those present.
Vatican records indicate that Pope Leo XIV named Archbishop Nugent as Apostolic Nuncio to the Czech Republic on May 25, 2026, following the conclusion of his Gulf posting. Nugent, who was born in County Clare, Ireland, on October 21, 1958, previously held the nuncio role in Haiti from 2015 to 2021 and served in diplomatic capacities for the Holy See in Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles and Hong Kong. A profile from the Apostolic Nunciature in Kuwait outlines how these earlier assignments prepared him for representing the Vatican across multiple regions.
Church updates from Bahrain, including a notice from Sacred Heart Catholic Church, confirmed that Nugent has wrapped up his regional mission in the Gulf area. The Goan Cultural Centre event aligns with a thanksgiving Mass the archbishop celebrated on August 11, as noted in related community postings from Maltese groups in Kuwait. Such farewells reflect the close ties the nuncio maintained with expatriate Catholic communities during his five years based in the country.
