At the Mass for the election of a new pope, the dean of the College of Cardinals made “a strong call to maintain the unity of the Church” ahead of the conclave on Wednesday, urging the cardinal electors to remember that they will cast their votes in the Sistine Chapel before God “in whose sight each person will one day be judged.”
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Cardinals from more than 70 countries processed into St. Peter’s Basilica on May 7 for the solemn Mass “Pro Eligendo Romano Pontifice” — the Mass for the Election of the Roman Pontiff— ahead of the start of the conclave later in the day.
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the 91-year-old dean of the College of Cardinals, presided over the liturgy, underlining the need for unity in the Church. “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,” he said.
“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,” he added.
More than 200 cardinals concelebrated the Mass, including many of the 133 eligible to vote for the next pope. Although Re led the liturgy and delivered the homily, he will not participate in the conclave due to his age.
“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.
“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, characterized by great technological progress but which tends to forget God,” he added.
The Mass for the Election of a Roman Pontiff began with the entrance antiphon, “I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to my heart and mind.” In the collect prayer, the cardinal asked God for “a pastor for your Church who will please you by his holiness and to us show watchful care.”
Scripture readings included passages from Isaiah 61, Psalm 88, Ephesians 4:11-16, and chapter 15 of the Gospel of John. The Gospel, proclaimed in Latin, included Jesus’ words to his disciples: “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit.”
In his homily, Cardinal Re reflected on the “highest human and ecclesial responsibility” facing the cardinal electors and called upon them to remember that they will cast their votes in the Sistine Chapel in “the presence of God, in whose sight each person will one day be judged.”
“Pope John Paul II, in his Roman Triptych, 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,” Re said.
“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,” he added.
Prayers of the faithful during the Mass were offered in French, Swahili, Portuguese, Malayalam, Chinese, and German, asking the Lord to fill the cardinal electors with his Holy Spirit “with understanding and good counsel, wisdom and discernment.”
In the prayer after communion, Cardinal Re prayed, “may the wondrous grace of your majesty gladden us with the gift of a shepherd who will instruct your people by his virtues and imbue the minds of the faithful with the truth of the Gospel.”
At the end of the Mass, the cardinals and congregation sang the Regina Caeli, the traditional Easter hymn to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The liturgy marked the final public act of the College of Cardinals before entering into the secretive conclave process. Later in the afternoon, the 133 electors will gather in the Pauline Chapel of the Apostolic Palace for prayer before processing to the Sistine Chapel, where the conclave will begin.
After taking an oath of secrecy and invoking the Holy Spirit with the singing of Veni Creator, they will listen to a meditation by Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa before casting the first vote. While a new pope could theoretically be chosen on the first ballot, such a result is considered unlikely.
Following the vote, the cardinals will return to the Casa Santa Marta residence for the night, cut off from the outside world until a new pope is elected.
“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,” Re said.
