(Eagle News) –Ambassador of Spain to the Philippines, H.E. Jorge Moragas Sanchez, visited the newly opened Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church Of Christ) Museum for a courtesy call on INC Executive Minister Brother Eduardo V. Manalo on Wednesday morning , October 9.
Ambassador Jorge Moragas Sanchez is the first ambassador from Spain and the first diplomat from Western Europe to visit the INC Executive Minister.
He arrived together with Spain’s Consul General in the Philippines, Fernando Heredia Noguer.
“Since his arrival in the Philippines late last year, Ambassador Moragas has taken notice of the Iglesia Ni Cristo. He recognizes the INC as a strong institution which does a lot of good things all around the Philippines, as well as in the communities all around the world where the Church is found,” said Brother Joel San Pedro, head of the INC’s Overseas Mission Office.
The Ambassador, San Pedro added, has not only heard of the INC’s activities but also knows members of the Church, confirming the reputation of its members as honest, responsible, and hardworking. During the meeting, Ambassador Moragas also expressed curiosity and interest about the Church’s beliefs, practices and history, as well.
San Pedro said that the Spanish Ambassador’s meeting with Brother Eduardo “went very well.” Afterwards, the Ambassador was pleasantly surprised by the great number of brethren who waved small flags of Spain and the INC and cheerfully greeted him as he departed. He also expressed admiration for the beauty of the INC Museum. This is the first time that a foreign diplomat making a courtesy call to the INC Executive Minister was received at the INC Museum.
Ambassador Moragas has a strong affinity with the Philippines as his mother was born in Baguio City. His grandfather was among those who came to the Philippines along with the Tobacco Company of the Philippines. The ambassador first visited the country when he was just 13 years old.
Moragas’ hometown is in Barcelona where the Church has a 1,260-seater House of Worship, one of the largest INC houses of worship outside the Philippines.
The INC Executive Minister himself officiated the worship service that dedicated to God the House of Worship in Barcelona in 2012. In 2017, Brother Eduardo also led a Worldwide Evangelical Mission from Barcelona, Spain, where he officiated a worship service that was broadcast all over the world through Webex technology. The first pastoral visitation of the Executive Minister to Spain was when he led a worship service in Madrid in 2010.
At present, the INC’s ecclesiastical district of Spain comprises 21 local congregations.
Before being assigned to the Philippines in December 2018, Ambassador Moragas served as the Permanent Representative and Ambassador of Spain to the United Nations in New York, particularly from 2012 to 2017.
The Ambassador also served as the Secretary of the National Security Council of Spain for the same period and was a member of Spain’s lower legislative court, the Congress of Deputies, from 2004 to 2017.
He first joined the Diplomatic Corps in 1995.
