Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re urged cardinals Wednesday to pray that the Holy Spirit “will give us a new pope according to God’s heart for the good of the Church and humanity.”
At a May 7 Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica ahead of the conclave to elect Pope Francis’ successor, the dean of the College of Cardinals reflected on the onerous task facing the 133 cardinal-electors.
“We are here to invoke the help of the Holy Spirit, to implore his light and strength so that the Pope elected may be he whom the Church and humanity need at this difficult and complex turning point in history,” Re said in his homily at the Mass pro eligendo Pontifice (for the election of the Roman Pontiff).
“To pray, by invoking the Holy Spirit, is the only right and proper attitude to take as the cardinal-electors prepare to undertake an act of the highest human and ecclesial responsibility and to make a choice of exceptional importance.”
“This is a human act for which every personal consideration must be set aside, keeping in mind and heart only the God of Jesus Christ and the good of the Church and of humanity.”
The cardinals — some looking tense and highly focused — sat in a semi-circle around the Altar of the Confession, above the tomb of the first pope, St. Peter.
Also present at the Mass were figures who held senior Vatican posts until the death of Pope Francis, when most roles lapsed. They included Sr. Raffaella Petrini, appointed president of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State in March, and Paolo Ruffini, the prefect of the Dicastery for Communication since 2018.
The Sistine Chapel Choir sang throughout the Mass, accompanied by the organ of St. Peter’s Basilica.
In his homily, Cardinal Re referred to the Gospel reading, from John 15, in which Jesus tells the disciples that his commandment is to “love one another as I have loved you.”
The cardinal, who will not vote in the conclave because he is over 80, said: “The love that Jesus reveals knows no limits and must characterize the thoughts and actions of all his disciples, who must always show authentic love in their behavior and commit themselves to building a new civilization, what Paul VI called the ‘civilization of love.’ Love is the only force capable of changing the world.”
Re said that the Mass readings — including Isaiah 61, describing the mission of the Lord’s anointed to bring good news to the poor — contained a message of fraternity, a major theme of Francis’ pontificate.
“The liturgical texts of this Eucharistic celebration, then, invite us to fraternal love, to mutual help and to commitment to ecclesial communion and universal human fraternity,” he said, speaking with a firm voice.
“Among the tasks of every successor of Peter is that of fostering communion: communion of all Christians with Christ; communion of the bishops with the pope; communion of the bishops among themselves.”
“This is not a self-referential communion, but one that is entirely directed toward communion among persons, peoples, and cultures, with a concern that the Church should always be a ‘home and school of communion.’”
The 91-year-old cardinal stressed the need to maintain Church unity, which he defined as “a firm and profound communion in diversity.”
“Each pope continues to embody Peter and his mission and thus represents Christ on earth; he is the rock on which the Church is built,” Re said, alluding to Matthew 16:18.
“The election of the new pope is not a simple succession of persons, yet it is always the Apostle Peter who returns.”
In his homily, Re evoked the Sistine Chapel, the conclave’s setting, which contains Michelangelo’s towering painting of the Last Judgment.
Holding the pages of his homily in his left hand, the bespectacled cardinal noted that in the poem “Roman Triptych,” published in 2003, the Polish pope John Paul II meditated on the painting’s significance for cardinal-electors.
“In his ‘Roman Triptych,’ Pope John Paul II expressed the hope that during the hours of voting on this weighty decision, Michelangelo’s looming image of Jesus the Judge would remind everyone of the greatness of the responsibility of placing the ‘supreme keys’ in the correct hands,” Re said, quoting the Italian poet Dante Alighieri.
Stressing the words with thrusts of right hand, the Italian cardinal continued: “Let us pray, then, that the Holy Spirit, who in the last hundred years has given us a series of truly holy and great pontiffs, will give us a new pope according to God’s heart for the good of the Church and of humanity.”
“Let us pray that God will grant the Church a pope who knows how best to awaken the consciences of all and the moral and spiritual energies in today’s society, characterised by great technological progress but which tends to forget God.”
“Today’s world expects much from the Church regarding the safeguarding of those fundamental human and spiritual values without which human coexistence will not be better nor bring good to future generations.”
After the homily and the recitation of the Creed, the Prayers of the Faithful were read in French, Swahili, Portuguese, Malayalam (spoken in India), Chinese, and German, highlighting the Catholic Church’s universality.
Following the Mass, the cardinals were due to have lunch, before gathering again in the afternoon at the Vatican’s Pauline Chapel. From there, they will walk in procession into the Sistine Chapel, where they will take an oath individually, promising to respect the secrecy of the conclave in perpetuity.
After the last cardinal has taken the oath, Archbishop Diego Ravelli, the Master of Papal Liturgical Celebrations, will proclaim: “Extra omnes” (“Everyone else out.”) Those who are not directly involved in the conclave will leave the chapel.
With Ravelli still present, Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa, Preacher Emeritus of the Papal Household, will offer a meditation on the task awaiting electors.
When the meditation ends, Cantalamessa (who at 91 is too old to vote) and Ravelli (who is not a cardinal) will leave the Sistine Chapel. The doors will be closed and guards will take up their places at the chapel’s entrances.
The cardinal-electors will then begin the elaborate voting procedure. One vote is expected to take place May 7. Following the vote, the ballots will be burned and smoke emitted from a temporary chimney attached to the Sistine Chapel.
If the smoke is black, it will indicate that no pope has been elected. If the smoke is white, it will signal that a new pope has been chosen.
Concluding his homily, Cardinal Re said: “May the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, intercede with her maternal intercession, so that the Holy Spirit will enlighten the minds of the cardinal-electors and help them agree on the pope that our time needs.” – The Pillar
