This morning, Pope Francis met with the Cardinals in the Sala Clementina.
Below
please find Vatican Radio's translation of the full text of the Holy Father's address
to the Cardinals:
Brother Cardinals,
This period of the Conclave
has been filled with meaning not just for the College of Cardinals but also for all
the faithful. During these days we have felt almost palpably the affection and solidarity
of the universal Church, as well as the attention of many people who, even if not
sharing our faith, look upon the Church and the Holy See with respect and admiration.
From
every corner of the earth a heart-felt chorus of prayer was raised by Christian peoples
for the new Pope, and my first encounter with the crowds filling St. Peter’s Square
was an emotional one. With that eloquent image of a praying and joyful populace still
fixed in my mind, I would like to manifest my sincere gratitude to the Bishops, priests,
consecrated persons, young people, families, and to the aged for their spiritual closeness
which is so touching and sincere.
I feel the need to express my deepest gratitude
to all of you, venerable and dear Brother Cardinals, for your collaboration in running
the Church during the Sede Vacante. I greet, to begin with, the Dean of the College
of Cardinals, Angelo Sodano, who I thank with expressions of devotion for the kind
wishes he extended to me in your name. With him I thank Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone,
Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, for his fine work during this delicate transition
phase, and also Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, who led us in the Conclave. Many thanks!
I think with particular affection of the venerable Cardinals who, because of age or
illness, assured us of their participation and love for the Church by offering their
suffering and prayers. And I would like to inform them that, the day before yesterday,
Cardinal Mejia had a heart attack and is in hospital. I believe he is in stable condition
and he has sent us his greetings.
I cannot forget to thank all those, who in
so many ways, worked to prepare and conduct the Conclave, ensuring the safety and
tranquillity of the Cardinals during this very important time in the life of the Church.
I
extend an especially affectionate thought, filled with gratitude, to my venerable
predecessor, Benedict XVI, who, during the years of his pontificate enriched and invigorated
the Church with his teaching, his goodness, guidance, faith, humility, and his meekness,
which will remain the spiritual patrimony of all. The Petrine ministry, lived with
total dedication, found in him a wise and humble interpreter with his gaze always
fixed on Christ, the Risen Christ, present and alive in the Eucharist. Our fervent
prayer will always accompany him, our eternal memory, and affectionate gratitude.
We feel that Benedict XVI lit a flame in the depth of our hearts, a flame that continues
to burn because it will be fanned by his prayers that will continue to sustain the
Church on its spiritual and missionary journey.
Dear Brother Cardinals, this
meeting of ours is meant to be the continuation of that intense ecclesial communion
we experienced during this period. Animated by a profound sense of responsibility
and sustained by a great love for Christ and for the Church, we prayed together, fraternally
sharing our feelings, our experiences and reflections. In this very cordial atmosphere
our reciprocal knowledge of one another and mutual openness to one another, grew.
And this is good because we are brothers. As someone told me: the Cardinals are the
Holy Father’s priests. But we are that community, that friendship, that closeness,
that will do good for every one of us. That mutual knowledge and openness to one another
helped us to be open to the action of Holy Spirit. He, the Paraclete, is the supreme
protagonist of every initiative and manifestation of faith. It’s interesting and it
makes me think. The Paraclete creates all the differences in the Church and seems
like an apostle of Babel. On the other hand, the Paraclete unifies all these differences
– not making them equal – but in harmony with one another. I remember a Church father
who described it like this: “Ipse harmonia est.” The Paraclete gives each one
of us a different charism, and unites us in this community of the Church that adores
the Father, the Son, and Him – the Holy Spirit.
Starting from the authentic
collegial affection that united the College of Cardinals, I express my desire to serve
the Gospel with renewed love, helping the Church to become ever more in Christ and
with Christ, the fruitful life of the Lord. Stimulated by the Year of Faith, all together,
pastors and faithful, we will make an effort to respond faithfully to the eternal
mission: to bring Jesus Christ to humanity, and to lead humanity to an encounter with
Jesus Christ: the Way, the Truth and the Life, truly present in the Church and, at
the same time, in every person. This encounter makes us become new men in the mystery
of Grace, provoking in our hearts the Christian joy that is a hundredfold that given
us by Christ to those who welcome Him into their lives.
As Pope Benedict XVI
reminded us so many times in his teachings and, finally, with that courageous and
humble gesture, it is Christ who guides the Church through His Spirit. The Holy Spirit
is the soul of the Church, with His life-giving and unifying strength. Of many He
makes a single body – the mystical Body of Christ. Let us never give in to pessimism,
to that bitterness that the devil tempts us with every day. Let us not give into pessimism
and let us not be discouraged. We have the certainty that the Holy Spirit gives His
Church, with His powerful breath, the courage to persevere, the courage to persevere
and to search for new ways to evangelise, to bring the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
Christian truth is attractive and convincing because it responds to the deep need
of human existence, announcing in a convincing way that Christ is the one Saviour
of the whole of man and of all men. This announcement is as valid today as it was
at the beginning of Christianity when the Church worked for the great missionary expansion
of the Gospel.
Dear Brothers, have courage! Half of us are old: I like to think
of old age as the seat of wisdom in life. Old people have wisdom because they know
they have journeyed through life – like the aged Simeon and Anna in the Temple. It
was that wisdom that allowed them to recognise Jesus. We must give this wisdom to
young people: like good wine that improves with age, let us give young people this
life’s wisdom. I’m reminded of what a German poet said about aging: “Es ist ruhig,
das Alter, und fromm” – “age is the time of peace and prayer”. We need to give young
people this wisdom.
You are returning to your respective Sees to continue
your ministry, enriched by these days so filled with faith and ecclesial communion.
This unique and incomparable experience has allowed us to capture all the beauty of
the ecclesial reality, which is a refection of the light of the Risen Christ: one
day we shall gaze upon the beautiful face of that Risen Christ.
I commit my
ministry, and your ministry, to the powerful intercession of Mary, our Mother, Mother
of the Church. Beneath her maternal gaze, may each one of us walk and listen to the
voice of her divine Son, strengthening unity, persevering together in prayer and giving
witness to the true faith in the continual presence of the Lord. With these sentiments,
sincere sentiments, I impart my Apostolic Blessing, which I extend to your collaborators
and to the people under your pastoral care.