On Wednesday morning, 7 May, in Saint Peter’s Basilica the Mass for the Election of the Roman Pontiff took place with the Cardinals and over five thousand faithful in attendance. Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, Dean of the College of Cardinals, presided over the celebration, saying that in a special way “we feel united with the entire People of God in their sense of faith, love for the Pope and confident expectation.”
Recalling the reading in the Acts of the Apostles how after Christ’s ascension into heaven all were united and persevering in prayer together with Mary, the Mother of Jesus, the Cardinal said in his homily that all gathered here are praying together as well just a few hours before the start of the Conclave, “under the gaze of Our Lady beside the altar, in this Basilica which rises above the tomb of the Apostle Peter.”
United in faith and prayer
Cardinal Re explained that at this celebration we invoke the help of the Holy Spirit, asking for “his light and strength so that the Pope elected may be he whom the Church and humanity need at this difficult, complex, and troubled turning point in history.”
Love that knows no limits
As proclaimed in the Gospel reading during the celebration, Cardinal Re recalled how Jesus calls on everyone to love one another as He has loved them, even to the point of laying down one’s life, a message of boundless love that the Lord calls a “new” commandment.
Call to fraternal love and communion
Continuing in his homily, Cardinal Re recalled how the readings proclaimed during the celebration call us to fraternal love, mutual help, ecclesial communion and universal human fraternity. And a key task of every successor of Peter is fostering communion in all forms: “communion of all Christians with Christ; communion of the Bishops with the Pope; communion of the Bishops among themselves…entirely directed towards communion among persons, peoples and cultures.”
Unity in diversity
The readings also remind us about the duty “to maintain the unity of the Church on the path traced out by Christ to the Apostles.” This unity of the Church “is willed by Christ,” he explained, a unity that is strong and marked by “profound communion in diversity, provided that full fidelity to the Gospel is maintained.”
United in prayer
As the Cardinal electors cast their votes in the Sistine Chapel, Cardinal Re urged everyone to pray 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.”
The Cardinal remarked how the world expects much from the Church in safeguarding the “fundamental human and spiritual values” that human coexistence and future generations depend upon.
