Homily of Cardinal Re at the Mass “Pro Choose Pontifice”

Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the Cardenalicio College, pronounced the homily of the Mass “Pro Choose Pontifice” in which he implored the light of the Holy Spirit to be chosen by the Pope “that the Church and humanity need at this time of history so difficult and complex.” The solemn celebration has been the prelude to the conclave.

Then read the homily of Cardinal Re:

In the Acts of the Apostles it is read that, after the ascension of Christ to heaven and waiting for Pentecost, all persevered united in prayer along with Mary, the mother of Jesus (cf. Acts 1,14).

It is precisely what we are also doing a few hours after the start of the conclave, under the gaze of the Virgin placed next to the altar, in this basilica that rises on the tomb of the apostle Peter. We notice how all the people of God are linked to us with their sense of faith, his love to the Pope and his confident hope.

We are here to invoke the help of the Holy Spirit, to implore its light and strength, so that the Pope is chosen that the Church and humanity need at this time in history so difficult and complex.

Praying, invoking the Holy Spirit, is the only fair and necessary attitude, while cardinals are prepared to an act of maximum human and ecclesial responsibility, and a decision of great importance; A human act by which any personal consideration must be abandoned, and have in the mind and in the heart only the God of Jesus Christ and the good of the Church and humanity.

In the gospel that has been proclaimed, words that lead us to the heart of the supreme message of Jesus have resonated, delivered to his apostles in the afternoon of the last dinner at the Cenacle: “This is my commandment: love each other, as I have loved them” (Jn 15,12). And to specify that “as I have loved them” and indicate how far our love should go, Jesus says: “There is no bigger love than to give life for friends” (Jn 15,13).

It is the message of love, that Jesus defines “new” commandment. New because it transforms positively and greatly expands the exhortation of the Old Testament, which said: “Do not do to others what you would not want to do to you.”

The love that Jesus reveals knows no limits and must characterize the thoughts and action of all his disciples, which in his behavior must always manifest an authentic love and commit to the construction of a new civilization, which Paul VI called “civilization of love.” Love is the only force capable of changing the world.

Jesus has given us an example of this love at the beginning of the last dinner with a surprising gesture: he ab with the service of others, washing the feet to the apostles, without discriminations, without excluding Judas who was going to betray him.

This message from Jesus is linked to what we have heard in the first reading of the Mass, in which the prophet Isaiah reminded us that the fundamental quality of the shepherds is love to the total gift of themselves.

From the liturgical texts of this Eucharistic celebration, we are therefore an invitation to fraternal love, mutual aid and commitment to ecclesial communion and universal human fraternity. Among the tasks of every successor of Peter is to increase communion: communion of all Christians with Christ; Communion of bishops with the Pope; communion among bishops. Not a self -referential communion, but totally aimed at communion between people, peoples and cultures, ensuring that the Church is always “house and communion school.”

The call to maintain the unity of the Church on the path drawn by Christ to the apostles is also strong. The unity of the Church is loved by Christ; A unit that does not mean uniformity, but a firm and deep communion in diversity, provided it is maintained in full fidelity to the Gospel.

Every Pope continues to embody Peter and his mission, and that way it represents Christ on earth; He is the rock on which the Church is built (cf. Mt 16,18).

The choice of the new Pope is not a simple succession of people, but is always the apostle Peter that returns. The cardinals will express their vote in the Sistine Chapel, where, as the Universi Dominici Gregis Apostolic Constitution says, “everything contributes to the presence of God, before which each one must appear one day to be judged.”

In Roman triptych, Pope John Paul II expressed the desire that, in the hours of the great decision through the vote, the majestic image of Michelangelo that represents Jesus Judge reminded each of the greatness of the responsibility of putting the “sovereign keys” (Dante) in the appropriate hands.

Let’s pray, therefore, so that the Holy Spirit, that in the last hundred years he has given us a series of truly holy and great pontiffs, he gives us a new Pope according to the heart of God for the good of the Church and of humanity.

Let’s pray that God grants the Church the Pope who best awakens the consciences of all and the moral and spiritual forces in today’s society, characterized by great technological progress, but that tends to forget about God.

Today’s world expects a lot from the Church for the protection of those fundamental, human and spiritual values, without which human coexistence will not be better or bearer for good for future generations.

That the blessed Virgin Mary, mother of the Church, intervenes with her maternal intercession, so that the Holy Spirit illuminates the minds of the voters and make them concords in the choice of the Pope who needs our time.