9 memorable quotes from the Novendiales Masses for Pope Francis
Cardinals celebrate the ninth Novendiales Mass for Pope Francis on the third Sunday of Easter, May 4, 2025, at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA
Vatican City, May 6, 2025 / 15:11 pm (CNA).
Cardinals on Sunday concluded the celebration of nine requiem Masses for the nine days of mourning for Pope Francis. In many cases their homilies emphasized the relatable feelings of worry, fear, and sadness the apostles experienced after Christ’s death, relating it to the “‘sede vacante” and the uncertainty around the election of a new pope — and reminding Catholics of the joy and hope brought by the Resurrection.
They also reflected on the service and legacy of Pope Francis’ pontificate, highlighting his strong work ethic and focus on mercy and offering advice to their fellow cardinals for choosing his successor.
“As in the time of the first disciples, there are successes and also failures, fatigue, and fear” during this time following Pope Francis’ death, Cardinal Baldassare Reina, vicar general of the Diocese of Rome, said on April 28. “The horizon is immense, and temptations creep in that veil the one thing that matters: to desire, seek, and labor in anticipation of ‘a new heaven and a new earth.’”
Here are some of the other memorable quotes from the nine homilies, which began with Pope Francis’ funeral on April 26 and concluded on May 4, the third Sunday of Easter.
*Cardinal Pietro Parolin, former secretary of state, on April 27:*
Cardinal Pietro Parolin celebrates the Mass on Divine Mercy Sunday, April 27, 2025 — the second day of mourning for the late Pope Francis. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
“The risen Jesus appears to his disciples while they are in the upper room where they have fearfully shut themselves in, with the doors locked (John 20:19). Their state of mind is disturbed and their hearts are full of sadness, because the master and shepherd they had followed, leaving everything behind, has been nailed to the cross. They experienced terrible things and feel orphaned, alone, lost, threatened, and helpless.
“The opening image that the Gospel offers us on this Sunday can also well represent the state of mind of all of us, of the Church, and of the entire world. The shepherd whom the Lord gave to his people, Pope Francis, has ended his earthly life and has left us. The grief at his departure, the sense of sadness that assails us, the turmoil we feel in our hearts, the sense of bewilderment: We are experiencing all of this, like the apostles grieving over the death of Jesus.
“The joy of Easter, which sustains us in this time of trial and sadness, is something that can almost be touched in this square today; you can see it etched above all in your faces, dear children and young people who have come from all over the world to celebrate the jubilee [of teenagers]. You come from so many places: from all of the dioceses of Italy, from Europe, from the United States to Latin America, from Africa to Asia, from the United Arab Emirates… with you here, the whole world is truly present!”
*Cardinal Baldassare Reina, vicar general of Rome, on April 28:*
“In this time, while the world is burning and few have the courage to proclaim the Gospel and translate it into a concrete and possible vision of the future, humanity appears like sheep without a shepherd. This image leaves the mouth of Jesus as he gazes upon the crowds following him.
“Around him are the apostles, reporting all they had done and taught: the words, gestures, and actions learned from the Master — the proclamation of the coming kingdom of God, the call to conversion, and the signs that gave flesh to the words — a caress, an outstretched hand, disarmed speech, without judgment, liberating, unafraid of contact with impurity. In performing this service, necessary to awaken faith and hope — that evil would not have the last word, that life is stronger than death — they did not even have time to eat.
“Jesus senses the weight of this — and that comforts us now. Jesus, the true shepherd of history in need of salvation, knows the burden placed on each of us in continuing his mission, especially as we find ourselves searching for his first shepherd on earth.
“This cannot be the time for balancing acts, tactics, caution, instincts to turn back, or, worse, revenge and power alliances, but rather we need a radical disposition to enter into God’s dream entrusted to our poor hands.
“Our duty must be to discern and order what has begun, in light of what our mission demands of us, moving toward a new heaven and a new earth, adorning the bride (the Church) for the Bridegroom. Otherwise, we risk clothing the bride according to worldly fashions, guided by ideological claims that tear the unity of Christ’s garment.”
*Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, former prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches, on May 2:*
Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, prefect emeritus of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches, celebrates the seventh Novendiales Mass for Pope Francis on May 2, 2025, in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
“In this Eucharist we intend to unite ourselves as we can and know how, even in our aridities, distractions, continuous losses of focus on the only thing necessary, to the inexpressible groaning of the Spirit who cries out to God what is pleasing to him and what expresses in fullness the groaning of our nature, which we do not know how to formulate in words, also because we do not even allow ourselves, overwhelmed by haste, the time to know ourselves, to know him, to invoke him.
“St. Augustine invites us to enter within ourselves because it is there that we can find the authentic meaning that not only expresses what we are but cries out to the Father our need to be beloved children, repeating, ‘Abbá, Father’: ‘Noli foras ire, in te ipsum redi; in interiore homine habitat veritas.’ [‘Do not go outside, return to within yourself; truth dwells in the inner man’].”
*Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime, former pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, on May 3:*
“St. Athanasius affirms that the risen Jesus Christ makes man’s life a continuous feast. And that is why the apostles — and Peter first among them — are not afraid of imprisonment, nor of threats, nor of being persecuted again. And in fact they boldly and frankly declare: ‘Of these things we are witnesses as also is the Holy Spirit whom God has sent to those who obey him.’
“It is clear that only the presence, with them, of the risen Lord and the action of the Holy Spirit can explain this fact. Their faith was based on such a strong and personal experience of Christ, dead and risen, that they were not afraid of anything or anyone.
“In the Gospel we heard that the risen Lord was waiting for his disciples at the seashore. The account says that when everything seemed finished, failed, the Lord made himself present, went to meet his own, who — filled with joy — were able to exclaim through the mouth of the disciple whom Jesus loved, ‘It is the Lord.’
“In this expression we grasp the enthusiasm of Easter faith, full of joy and amazement, which contrasts sharply with the bewilderment, discouragement, and sense of helplessness hitherto present in the disciples’ souls.
“It is only the presence of the risen Jesus that transforms everything: Darkness is overcome by light; useless work becomes fruitful and promising again; the sense of weariness and abandonment gives way to a new momentum and the certainty that he is with us.”
*Cardinal Dominique Mamberti, former prefect of the supreme tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, on May 4:*
Cardinal Dominique Mamberti delivers his homily during the ninth Novendiales Mass for Pope Francis on the third Sunday of Easter, May 4, 2025, at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA
“Love is the key word of this Gospel passage [John 21:1-19]. The first to recognize Jesus is ‘the disciple whom Jesus loved,’ John, who exclaims: ‘It is the Lord!’ and Peter immediately throws himself into the sea to join the Master. After they had shared the food, which will have kindled in the hearts of the apostles the memory of the Last Supper, the dialogue between Jesus and Peter begins, the threefold question of the Lord and Peter’s threefold response.
“The first two times, Jesus adopts the verb to love, a strong word, while Peter, mindful of the betrayal, responds with the less demanding expression ‘to care,’ and the third time Jesus stresses the expression to care, adjusting to the apostle’s weakness. Pope Benedict XVI noted in commenting on this dialogue: ‘Simon understands that Jesus is satisfied with his poor love, the only one of which he is capable. ... It is precisely this divine adjustment that gives hope to the disciple, who has recognized the suffering of infidelity. ... From that day on, Peter ‘followed’ the Master with a precise awareness of his own fragility; but this awareness did not discourage him. For he knew that he could count on the presence of the Risen One beside him ... and so he shows us the way as well’ (General audience, May 24, 2006).”
*Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, vice dean of the College of Cardinals, on April 30:*
“The celebration of the Novendiales for the deceased pontiff constitutes on the part of different categories and affiliations the performance of a rite of Christian suffrage: Ideally, in this way, too, the successor of Peter summons us to confirm ourselves, precisely because we renew our profession of faith in the resurrection of the flesh, in the forgiveness of sins, including those of a man who became pontiff, and in renewing the awareness that the unity of each person’s history is in God’s hands.
“Today it is the cardinal fathers who are called to participate in the Novendiales, almost a central stage of this ecclesial journey, huddling together in prayer as a collegium and entrusting to the Lord the one whose first collaborators and advisers they have been, or at least have sought to be, in the Roman Curia as well as in dioceses throughout the world.”
*Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, on April 29:*
“The message [of the parable of the sheep and goats] is clear: In the lives of all, believers and nonbelievers alike, there is a moment of discrimination; at a certain point some begin to share in the same joy of God, others begin to suffer the tremendous suffering of true loneliness, because, ousted from the kingdom, they remain desperately alone in their souls.
“The passage in the first reading is the conclusion of Peter’s encounter with pagans, Cornelius and his family (Acts 10); an episode that — in a globalized, secularized age as thirsty for truth and love as ours — through Peter’s attitude points the way to evangelization: the unreserved openness to the human, gratuitous interest in others, the sharing of experience and deepening to help every man and every woman give respect to life, to creaturely grace, and, when they see that it pleases God — St. Francis of Assisi would say (RegNB XVI, 43) — the proclamation of the Gospel.”
*Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, former prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, on May 1:*
Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández delivers the homily during the sixth Novendiales Mass for Pope Francis on May 1, 2025, in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA
“Behind this love of work is a strong conviction of Pope Francis: the infinite value of every human being, an immense dignity that should never be lost, that under no circumstances can be ignored or forgotten.
“But every person is so very worthy, and must be taken so seriously, that it’s not just a matter of giving them things but promoting them. That is, that they can develop all the good in them, that they can earn their bread with the gifts God has given them, that they can develop their abilities. Thus each person is promoted in all his dignity. And this is where work becomes so important.
“But in this Mass, with the presence of the Vatican Curia, let us keep in mind that we in the Curia also work. Indeed, we are workers who keep a schedule, who carry out the tasks assigned to us, who must be responsible and strive and sacrifice in our commitments. The responsibility of work is also for us in the Curia a path of maturation and fulfillment as Christians.”
*Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, on April 26:*
“Evangelization was the guiding principle of [Pope Francis’] pontificate. With a clear missionary vision, he spread the joy of the Gospel, which was the title of his first apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium. It is a joy that fills the hearts of all those who entrust themselves to God with confidence and hope.
“The guiding thread of his mission was also the conviction that the Church is a home for all, a home with its doors always open. He often used the image of the Church as a ‘field hospital’ after a battle in which many were wounded; a Church determined to take care of the problems of people and the great anxieties that tear the contemporary world apart; a Church capable of bending down to every person, regardless of their beliefs or condition, and healing their wounds.”