Cardinal Re: United in prayer before the Conclave, we ask the Holy Spirit for guidance
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. May 07, 2025
By Thaddeus JonesOn 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."
'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.'
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.
'The love that Jesus reveals knows no limits and must characterise the thoughts and actions of all his disciples, who must always show authentic love in their behaviour and commit themselves to building a new civilisation, what Paul VI called the 'civilisation of love.' Love is the only force capable of changing the world.'
Call to fraternal love and communionContinuing 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."
'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 a new Pope is not a simple succession of persons. The election of a new Pope is always the Apostle Peter who returns.'
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."
'May we pray for "a Pope who knows how best to awaken the consciences of all and awaken the moral and spiritual energies in today's society" that "tends to forget God."'
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.
'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.'--Vatican News
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Herald Malaysia
2 hours ago
- Herald Malaysia
Pope to ecclesial movements: Always keep Jesus at the centre
In an audience with moderators of lay associations, ecclesial movements, and new communities, Pope Leo highlights hierarchical and charismatic gifts as essential aspects of the Church. Jun 07, 2025 Pope Leo XIV meets with moderators of lay associations, ecclesial movements, and new communities (@Vatican Media) By Christopher WellsPope Leo XIV on Friday encouraged leaders of lay associations and charismatic movements to 'always keep the Lord Jesus at the centre' of their journeys. This, he said, 'is the essential thing, and charisms are meant to serve this purpose.' The Holy Father addressed his remarks to moderators, international leaders, and delegates of ecclesial associations recognized or established by the Holy See, who are in Rome for an annual meeting organized by the Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life. Institutional and charismatic gifts In his address, Pope Leo distinguished between institutional groups founded 'to carry on some common apostolic, charitable, or liturgical project, or to support Christian witness in specific social settings', and groups originating 'with a charismatic inspiration… that gave rise to a new form of spirituality and of evangelization.' Both institutional and charismatic foundations, he said, must be understood in relation to grace: 'The institution exists so that grace may always be offered, and charisms are given so that this grace may be received and bear fruit.' Following the Church's teaching, and quoting St John Paul II, Pope Leo said that both 'hierarchical gifts and charismatic gifts 'are co-essential to the divine constitution of the Church founded by Jesus'.' Unity and mission Pope Leo then turned his focus to the idea of unity and mission, 'two essential aspects of the Church's life and two priorities of the Petrine ministry.' Because of this correspondence, the Pope asked 'all ecclesial associations and movements to cooperate faithfully and generously with the Pope, above all in these two areas.' In particular, he called on them to be 'a leaven of unity,' promoting throughout the Church the unity they experience in their own organizations. Then, recalling his own experience of mission, the Pope invited them to always 'keep alive' the missionary zeal that marks their own spiritual journey, and called them to place their talents 'at the service of the Church's mission.' Called to imitate Christ Concluding his remarks, Pope Leo reminded his audience that charisms 'lead to an encounter with Christ,' and 'help to build up the Church.' 'In this sense,' he continued, 'all of us are called to imitate Christ, Who emptied Himself to enrich us.' Whether united to pursue an apostolic goal, or to enjoy a charism, all are called 'to enrich others through the emptying of self,' which the Pope described as 'a source of freedom and great joy.'--Vatican News
Herald Malaysia
19 hours ago
- Herald Malaysia
Council of Nicaea anniversary is call to Christian unity: Experts
The Council of Nicaea 1,700 years ago recognized that Christian unity had to be based on a common faith and should be demonstrated by a common celebration of Easter, the most sacred feast of the Christian year, said speakers at a Rome conference. Jun 06, 2025 Pope Leo XIV waves to the crowd as he arrives in the popemobile for the weekly general audience at St Peter's Square at the Vatican, on June 4. (Photo: AFP) By Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service The Council of Nicaea 1,700 years ago recognized that Christian unity had to be based on a common faith and should be demonstrated by a common celebration of Easter, the most sacred feast of the Christian year, said speakers at a Rome conference. Yet as Christians mark the anniversary of the council, held in 325, they celebrate their common profession of the basics of faith in the Creed adopted at Nicaea while also continuing to experience division, said Paul L. Gavrilyuk, president of the International Orthodox Theological Association. The association and the Institute for Ecumenical Studies of Rome's Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas organized the June 4-7 conference with the support of the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity. Gavrilyuk, who holds the Aquinas Chair in Theology and Philosophy at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, and the other speakers noted the coincidence of the anniversary year and the election of Pope Leo XIV whose episcopal motto is "In Illo uno unum," an expression of St. Augustine meaning "In the One (Christ), we are one." "Nicaea was a landmark exercise in collective truth seeking and discernment with an enduring and universally significant dogmatic outcome enshrined in its famous creed," Gavrilyuk said. The fact that Christians today continue to use the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, not just liturgically but as a statement of orthodox Christian belief, means it is a continuing source of Christian unity, speakers said. "The restoration of the unity of the church requires agreement on the essential content of the Christian faith, not only among the churches and ecclesial communities of today, but also in continuity with the church of tradition, and above all, with its apostolic origins," said Cardinal Kurt Koch, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity. The Creed is "the strongest ecumenical bond of the Christian faith," the cardinal said. "The Council of Nicaea took place at a time when Christianity had not yet been divided by so many subsequent schisms; its creed is therefore shared by all Christian churches and ecclesial communities, uniting them in a common confession to this day. Its ecumenical importance cannot be underestimated." Orthodox Metropolitan Job of Pisidia, a theologian and Orthodox co-chair of the Catholic-Orthodox theological dialogue, said the Council of Nicaea could serve as a model of Christian unity today because it determined the essential points of Christian faith while allowing differences on other matters. "The Nicene Creed does not represent a confession of faith at a particular moment in the history of the church but rather manifests the confession of faith that transcends the limits of time and space," he said. It was introduced into the liturgy at the turn of the sixth century, "which shows how much this text became a universal confession of the faith confessed by the one church, received from Christ through the apostles and handed down by the holy fathers." Cardinal Koch said the celebration of the Nicaea anniversary also is an occasion to make a renewed commitment to synodality -- shared listening, reflection and discernment -- and for members of different churches to learn from the synodal structures of each other's churches. "The creed of the Council of Nicaea is not merely the result of theological reflection, but the expression of a joint, more precisely, synodal struggle of bishops for an orthodox and doxologically appropriate formulation of the Christian faith," Cardinal Koch said. At the time of Nicaea, there were about 1,800 Christian bishops, and most experts believe about 318 of them participated in the council. The Council of Nicaea also is known for setting the formula for determining the date of Easter at a time when Christian communities were celebrating Jesus' resurrection on different dates. A common celebration of Easter held until Pope Gregory XIII reformed the calendar in 1582. Cardinal Koch reminded his audience that since the 1960s, the Catholic Church has repeatedly said it would accept an ecumenical proposal for returning to a common date for Easter "on the condition that all Christian churches reach an agreement." "The endeavor to find a common date for Easter is an important pastoral concern, particularly for families of different denominations, and in light of the increasing mobility of people today," the cardinal said. "Above all, a shared celebration of Easter would bear more credible witness to the profound conviction of the Christian faith that Easter is not only the oldest but also the central and most important feast of Christianity." At Nicaea, Metropolitan Job said, the bishops determined that the church would celebrate Easter on the first Sunday after the full moon after the spring equinox -- a formula based on "observable astronomical phenomena" and not on any specific calendar. "All Christians today, without exception, determine the date of Easter according to the Nicene rule," he said, but with Western Christians using the more accurate Gregorian calendar and Eastern Christians using the Julian calendar, the celebrations only occasionally coincide.A decision on a proposal for the Orthodox churches "to use the most accurate scientific data to determine the date of Easter, using as a reference the meridian of Jerusalem, place of death and resurrection of Christ," has been postponed multiple times, he Archbishop Rowan Williams, the former archbishop of Canterbury, looked specifically at how celebrating the Nicaean anniversary is a call to deeper faith and to greater profess the Creed is to profess belief in the Trinity, a community of life that gives life to the church, the body of Christ, the archbishop said."The unity of the church is neither a goal toward which human negotiators struggle, nor a timelessly given identity untouched by history," he said. Rather, "it is a constantly realized and constantly frustrated or denied movement between subjects, bringing one another alive in the one life of the eternal Son." "The faith articulated at Nicaea and later in Constantinople cannot, I would say, be understood just as a set of claims about the life of God in abstraction from the call of God into the life of the new creation," he
Herald Malaysia
a day ago
- Herald Malaysia
Growing trend to deny burial space for Christians
Refusing burial space to Christians is becoming an alarming trend in villages across central and eastern India, particularly in the tribal regions of Chhattisgarh and Odisha. Jun 06, 2025 A file picture of Christian volunteers and workers restoring the tombs in Ambala Christian Cemetery in northern India after a court restored their burial rights in February 2021. (Photo supplied) RAIPUR, India: Refusing burial space to Christians is becoming an alarming trend in villages across central and eastern India, particularly in the tribal regions of Chhattisgarh and Odisha. Christian leaders say the practice is being used to pressure believers into abandoning their faith and to deter others from associating with Christian communities or Victor Thakur of Raipur warned that Christians of all denominations are increasingly facing this discrimination. He described it as a coordinated and deliberate strategy that needs urgent attention from Church leaders and civil society.A recent case in Havechur village, Chhattisgarh, involved the denial of burial for Ankalu Ram Potai, a 55-year-old Christian who died on May 13. Villagers, upset by his conversion decades earlier, guarded his home overnight to prevent a secret activist Arun Pannalal reported at least 15 such incidents in Chhattisgarh since 2023, while Fr Ajay Singh of Odisha documented around 10 in the past year. They believe radical Hindu groups are attempting to isolate Christians and suppress religious freedom through these local burial denied, families often transport the deceased to distant Christian cemeteries, sometimes over 80 kilometres away. In one 2025 case, the Supreme Court failed to grant burial rights to the family of Pastor Subhash Baghel, who was eventually buried 85 kilometres from his home after nearly three stressed that political and sectarian groups exploit tribal poverty and illiteracy to fuel religious divides. Thakur similarly warned of 'divide and rule' tactics and urged Christian communities to unite and engage in dialogue to counter the growing hostility. Conditions in Odisha have worsened since the BJP's 2024 return to power. In March 2025, Christians in Siunaguda village were forced to convert to bury a relative, and others have faced harassment and social exclusion. Father Singh called these acts not only discriminatory but also violations of basic constitutional and human rights. --
