At Mass before the conclave that will elect the next pope, the dean of the College of Cardinals urged his brothers to choose the shepherd the church and all of humanity need “at this difficult and complex and tormented” turning point in history.
“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,” Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the dean of the college, said in his homily.
He prayed that Mary would intercede, and the Holy Spirit would enlighten the cardinal electors “and help them agree on the pope that our time needs.”
The Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica May 7 was the last public event before 133 cardinals from 71 countries were to enter the Sistine Chapel to elect the 267th pope and Pope Francis’ successor. Only cardinals under the age of 80 were eligible to enter the conclave.
Cardinal Re, 91, presided over the Mass “Pro Eligendo Romano Pontifice” (for the election of the Roman pontiff) with some 220 other cardinals, including those who would be entering the conclave that afternoon. The prayers and readings made frequent reference to the need to choose a good pastor.
More from the homily:
The liturgical texts of this Eucharistic celebration invite us to fraternal love, to mutual help and to commitment to ecclesial communion and universal human fraternity. 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 towards communion among persons, peoples and cultures, with a concern that the Church should always be a “home and school of communion.”
This is also a strong call to maintain the unity of the Church on the path traced out by Christ to the Apostles. The unity of the Church is willed by Christ; a unity that does not mean uniformity, but a firm and profound communion in diversity, provided that full fidelity to the Gospel is maintained.
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 (cf. Mt 16:18).
The election of the new Pope is not a simple succession of persons, yet it is always the Apostle Peter who returns.
The Cardinal electors will cast their votes in the Sistine Chapel, the place, as the Apostolic Constitution Universi Dominici Gregis states, “where everything is conducive to an awareness of the presence of God, in whose sight each person will one day be judged.”
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” (Dante) in the correct hands.
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.
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.