Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - This morning, April 23, a funeral mass was held for Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, President of the Pontifical Council for the Family, at the Altar of the Chair in Saint Peter’s Basilica. The Mass was presided by Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Dean of the College of Cardinals. The Holy Father gave the homily, opening with a brief biographical sketch of the major events in the life of the late Cardinal. He then asked, “How can we forget, in a moment like this, the zeal and passion with which the cardinal worked over the last 18 years, carrying out his tireless activity in safeguarding and promoting the family and Christian marriage? How can we not be grateful to him for the courage with which he defended the non-negotiable values of human life? We all admired his tireless activity... We cannot but be grateful for the tenacious battle he fought to defend the truth of familial love and to spread the gospel of the family. The enthusiasm and determination with which he carried out his work in these areas, were the fruit of his personal experience, especially his mother’s suffering and death at the age of 44, from an extremely painful disease.”
Benedict XVI also spoke of how the Cardinal “drew his love for the truth about mankind and for the gospel of the family from the belief that each human being and each family reflects the mystery of God Who is Love,” and his entire life was dedicated to affirming the truth. Quoting a passage written by the late Cardinal, the Pope affirmed that “the truth of love always remained the ‘bedrock’ of his life; first, in Colombia, when he had to search ‘to discover the significance of genuine liberation in the area of theology,’ and later, here in Rome, when he dedicated himself to ‘proclaiming and spreading the gospel of life and the gospel of the family, as a collaborator of the Holy Father.’”
The Pope concluded by recalling the generosity of the lamented Cardinal, “which translated into multiple works of charity, especially in support of children in various parts of the globe,” with the hope that this testimony may “encourage us to use all our own physical and spiritual resources for the Gospel, may it spur us on to work in defence of human life, and help us to look constantly to the goal of our earthly pilgrimage.” (SL) (Agenzia Fides 23/4/2008; righe 29, parole 402)
