VATICAN - Mass "pro eligendo Romano Pontifice": "Not a simple succession of persons, yet it is always the Apostle Peter who returns"

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - "The election of the new Pope is not a simple succession of persons, yet it is always the Apostle Peter who returns." A few hours before the start of the Conclave, the College of Cardinals traditionally met in St. Peter's Basilica for the Mass "pro eligendo Romano Pontifice."

A total of 220 cardinals were present, including electors and non-electors; 5,000 faithful participated in the Mass in St. Peter's Basilica. Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, Dean of the Sacred College, presided over the Eucharistic concelebration. "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," he said in his homily, adding: "We feel united with the entire People of God in their sense of faith, love for the Pope and confident expectation."

"To pray, by invoking the Holy Spirit Prayer," Cardinal Re emphasized, "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."

In his commentary on the liturgical texts of the Eucharistic celebration, the Dean of the College of Cardinals recalled "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.”"

Hence the "strong call to maintain the unity of the Church on the path traced out by Christ to the Apostles," because "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." And therefore, "the election of the new Pope is not a simple succession of persons, yet it is always the Apostle Peter who returns."

Cardinal Re then cited John Paul II's Roman Triptych, a book of poems and meditations in which the Polish Pope expressed his 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," Re concluded.
In the afternoon, at 4:30 p.m., the 133 Cardinals electors entered the Sistine Chapel, opening the Conclave that will elect the 266th successor of Peter. (F.B.) (Agenzia Fides, 7/5/2025)

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