On April 26, the funeral Mass for Pope Francis took place in St. Peter’s Square, presided over by the Dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re.
Before a packed square, the cardinal reviewed the pastoral legacy of the Argentine Pontiff, who “chose to follow this path of dedication until the last day of his earthly life.”
Below is the full homily:
In this majestic St. Peter’s Square, where Pope Francis has celebrated the Eucharist so many times and presided over great gatherings over these past 12 years, we are gathered in prayer around his mortal remains with sad hearts, but sustained by the certainties of faith, which assures us that human existence does not end in the tomb, but in the house of the Father, in a life of happiness that will never end.
On behalf of the College of Cardinals, I cordially thank everyone for their presence. With great emotion, I extend a respectful greeting and profound gratitude to the Heads of State, Heads of Government, and official delegations who have come from numerous countries to express their affection, veneration, and esteem for the Pope who has left us.
The massive outpouring of affection and participation we’ve seen in recent days, following his passing from this earth to eternity, shows us how deeply the intense pontificate of Pope Francis has touched minds and hearts.
His last image, which will remain in our eyes and in our hearts, is that of last Sunday, the Solemnity of Easter, when Pope Francis, despite serious health problems, wanted to give us his blessing from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica and then came down to this square to greet the great crowd gathered for Easter Mass from the open-top popemobile.
With our prayer we now entrust the soul of the beloved Pontiff to God, so that He may grant him eternal happiness in the luminous and glorious horizon of His immense love.
We are illuminated and guided by the Gospel passage, in which the same voice of Christ resounded, questioning the first of the Apostles: “Peter, do you love me more than these?” And Peter’s response was immediate and sincere: “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” And Jesus entrusted him with the great mission: “Feed my sheep” (cf. Jn 21:16-17). This will be the constant task of Peter and his successors, a service of love in the image of Christ, Lord and Master, who “did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mk 10:45).
Despite his frailty and final suffering, Pope Francis chose to walk this path of self-sacrifice until the last day of his earthly life. He followed in the footsteps of his Lord, the Good Shepherd, who loved his sheep to the point of giving his own life for them. And he did so with strength and serenity, close to his flock, the Church of God, recalling Jesus’ saying, quoted by the Apostle Paul: “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).
When Cardinal Bergoglio was elected by the Conclave to succeed Pope Benedict XVI on March 13, 2013, he had already embarked on years of religious life in the Society of Jesus and, above all, was enriched by the experience of 21 years of pastoral ministry in the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires, first as Auxiliary, then as Coadjutor, and then, especially, as Archbishop.
The decision to take the name Francis immediately seemed like a programmatic and stylistic choice with which he wanted to project his pontificate, seeking to be inspired by the spirit of Saint Francis of Assisi.
He retained his temperament and his style of pastoral leadership, and immediately left the imprint of his strong personality on the government of the Church, establishing direct contact with individuals and communities, eager to be close to everyone, paying special attention to those in need, giving himself without measure, especially to the least of the earth, the marginalized. He was a Pope among the people, with a heart open to all. He was also a Pope attentive to the new developments emerging in society and to what the Holy Spirit was stirring up in the Church.
With his characteristic vocabulary and language rich in imagery and metaphor, he always sought to illuminate the problems of our time with the wisdom of the Gospel, offering a response in the light of faith and encouraging us to live as Christians the challenges and contradictions of these years of change, which he often called a “change of era.”
He had great spontaneity and an informal way of addressing everyone, even people far from the Church.
Full of human warmth and deeply sensitive to current tragedies, Pope Francis truly shared the concerns, sufferings, and hopes of our time of globalization, seeking to console and encourage with a message capable of reaching people’s hearts directly and immediately.
His charisma of welcome and listening, combined with a way of acting appropriate to today’s sensitivity, touched hearts, seeking to awaken moral and spiritual strength.
The primacy of evangelization was the guiding principle of his pontificate, spreading with a clear missionary imprint the joy of the Gospel, which was the title of his first Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium. A joy that fills the hearts of all who entrust themselves to God with trust and hope.
The guiding thread of his mission was also the conviction that the Church is a home for all; a house with doors always open. He repeatedly referred to the image of the Church as a “field hospital” after a battle with many wounded; a Church determined and eager to take charge of people’s problems and the great evils tearing at the heart of the contemporary world; a Church capable of bending down to each person, beyond all creeds or conditions, healing their wounds.
His gestures and exhortations on behalf of refugees and displaced persons were countless. He also constantly insisted on acting in favor of the poor.
It is significant that Pope Francis’s first trip was to Lampedusa, an island symbolic of the tragedy of migration, with thousands of people drowning at sea. Similarly, his trip to Lesbos, with the Ecumenical Patriarch and the Archbishop of Athens, was also significant, as was the celebration of Mass on the border between Mexico and the United States, on the occasion of his trip to Mexico.
Of his 47 grueling Apostolic Journeys, the one to Iraq in 2021, undertaken in defiance of all risks, will remain especially memorable. That difficult Apostolic Visit was a balm for the open wounds of the Iraqi population, who had suffered so much from the inhumane work of ISIS. It was also an important trip for interreligious dialogue, another relevant dimension of his pastoral work. With the 2024 Apostolic Visit to four countries in Asia-Oceania, the Pope reached “the most peripheral periphery of the world.”
Pope Francis always placed the Gospel of mercy at the center, constantly emphasizing that God never tires of forgiving us: He always forgives, regardless of the situation of those who ask for forgiveness and return to the right path.
He wanted the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, highlighting that mercy is “the heart of the Gospel.”
Mercy and the joy of the Gospel are two key concepts of Pope Francis.
In contrast to what he defined as “the throwaway culture,” he spoke of a culture of encounter and solidarity. The theme of fraternity ran vibrantly throughout his pontificate. In the Encyclical Letter Fratelli tutti, he sought to revive a global aspiration for fraternity, because we are all children of the same Father who is in heaven. He often forcefully recalled that we all belong to the same human family.
In 2019, during his trip to the United Arab Emirates, Pope Francis signed a document on “Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together,” recalling the common fatherhood of God.
Addressing men and women throughout the world, with the Encyclical Letter Laudato si’, he drew attention to the duties and shared responsibility for our common home. “No one is saved alone.”
Faced with the outbreak of so many wars in recent years, with inhuman horrors and countless deaths and destruction, Pope Francis ceaselessly raised his voice, imploring peace and calling for common sense and honest negotiation to find possible solutions, because war—he said—is nothing more than the death of people, the destruction of homes, hospitals, and schools. War always leaves the world worse off than it was before: it is a painful and tragic defeat for everyone.
“Build bridges, not walls” is an exhortation he repeated many times, and his service to the faith as successor of the Apostle Peter was always linked to service to humanity in all its dimensions.
In spiritual union with all of Christendom, we are here in great numbers to pray for Pope Francis, that God may welcome him into the immensity of his love.
Pope Francis used to conclude his speeches and meetings by saying, “Don’t forget to pray for me.”
Dear Pope Francis, we now ask you to pray for us and from heaven to bless the Church, bless Rome, and bless the entire world, as you did last Sunday from the balcony of this Basilica in a final embrace with all the People of God, but ideally also with all humanity that seeks the truth with a sincere heart and holds high the torch of hope.