VATICAN CITY (RNS) — At a church in a Roman suburb on Sunday (Might 4), Congolese Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu of Kinshasa preached on a narrative from the Gospel of John by which Jesus’ followers within the days after his loss of life returned to their day jobs, afraid to rile those that put Jesus to loss of life. He used the passage to hope for God to embolden the cardinals gathered in Rome of their work electing a brand new pope.
“We ask that the Holy Spirit, who inspired the apostles to problem the worry and the ire of the authorities of the time, to enlighten our cardinals who will collect in two days to elect a pope for the common church who has an unshakable religion and is able to face the challenges of the world right now,” Ambongo informed the congregation at St. Gabriel the Archangel in Della Vittoria.
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Ambongo, thought-about a doable candidate to succeed Pope Francis, who died April 21, is aware of in regards to the ire of the authorities. Appointed metropolitan archbishop of Mbandaka-Bikoro in 2016 and later vice chairman of that nation’s bishops’ convention, Ambongo supported Catholic clergy and lay protests in opposition to President Joseph Kabila’s try and delay elections. Ambongo requested for an investigation to carry authorities forces accountable for violent suppression of protesters.
He grew to become the pinnacle of the Archdiocese of Kinshasa in 2018 and Francis made him a cardinal the next 12 months, after which Ambongo joined the Council of Cardinals advising the pope in his reform of the curia in 2020. Since 2023 he has served as president of the Symposium of Bishops Conferences of Africa and Madagascar.
“I’m not right here for Congo, or for Africa. I’m right here for the common church. Our concern is for the common church. After we are completed, I’ll return to Kinshasa and I’ll placed on my hat as archbishop of Kinshasa and the struggle continues,” Ambongo stated.
At church buildings round Rome on Sunday, the cardinals who will start their voting for pope on Wednesday made customary visits to their “titular” church buildings — the place they’re honorary members of the clergy as a part of their rights as cardinals — to specific their ideas on what sort of pope, or what sort of church, they’re in search of.
The passage from John, by which Jesus seems to the disconsolate apostles and tells the primary pope, St. Peter, “Feed my flock,” was the Gospel studying at Francis’ funeral Mass. The cardinals would hear it once more Sunday night, at a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica marking the tip of the Novemdiales, the 9 days of mourning that observe the loss of life of a pope.
The pontiff who urged his clergymen to have “the odor of the sheep” — to remain near the trustworthy, not walled up inside their church buildings and doctrinal beliefs — gave the impression to be sending a message from past the grave. However on Sunday Vatican observers, eager to select up any clues to how the cardinals will vote, strained to listen to the messages being despatched from the pulpits of Rome.
Cardinal Francois-Xavier Bustillo of Ajaccio, who supported Francis’ concern for migrants and refugees, stated in his homily at Santa Maria Immacolata di Lourdes a Boccea that Jesus “doesn’t ask in case you are sturdy, if in case you have a advertising technique, for those who can converse languages.” As an alternative, he asks “to like him till the tip,” which implies “we have to be docile and accountable.”
At Santa Maria ai Monti, Cardinal Jean-Marc Noël Aveline of Marseille stated the studying was about Jesus’ name to like and welcome others. “Let’s not be afraid of those that are completely different from us. As a result of each man, each lady is a brother, a sister, for whom Christ has died,” Aveline, who is taken into account a Francis-like candidate to the papacy, stated.
Hungarian Cardinal Péter Erdo, a favourite contender for the papacy amongst conservative prelates, targeted on historical past and custom on the church of St. Francesca Romana, and touched on the necessity to promote collegiality amongst bishops, and the “decisive” position that bishops have in working native dioceses.
“We pray for the conclave, for the brand new pope who will likely be elected for the church who must fulfill his mission at a dramatic second for the historical past of the church,” Erdo stated.
However many cardinals, encountering journalists outdoors their church buildings after Mass, declined to supply an interpretation of their remarks. Ambongo, thought-about the chief of the resistance by some African cardinals in opposition to Francis’ 2023 opening to bless same-sex {couples}, was requested in regards to the subject of LGBTQ outreach outdoors San Gabriele, however stated solely that the cardinals are “not (involved) with the controversies.”
He additionally denied having spoken to conservative American cardinals comparable to Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke at pre-conclave conferences generally known as normal congregations. “People can discuss to one another; Africans can discuss to one another however the work is the work of the Holy Spirit,” he stated. About his possibilities of being elected pope, he stated: “Why not? Each Catholic can change into pope, that’s the legislation, everybody, not simply cardinals.”
Two American cardinals had been extra forthcoming. Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin of Newark, New Jersey, arriving by subway on the church of St. Mary of the Graces, stated the cardinals are converging on an emphasis on continuity with Francis’ hold forth. “There isn’t a going again,” he stated.
New York Archbishop Cardinal Timothy Dolan’s homily at Our Woman of Guadalupe church was fast, citing Francis’ distaste for long-winded homilies, however the cardinal took time to inform reporters afterward that the cardinals are in search of a candidate who can match Francis’ humility and charisma with Pope Benedict XVI’s “mind” and Pope John Paul II’s “bravery.”
Dolan additionally dealt briefly with reporters’ questions on a publish on the White Home X account displaying an artificial-intelligence-generated picture of U.S. President Donald Trump as pontiff that irked some Catholics. “It wasn’t good,” stated Dolan, calling it “a brutta figura,” or “unhealthy kind” in Italian.
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If the voting cardinals are largely retaining their very own counsel, some indications of the battle they are going to be dealing with because the conclave begins have appeared. On Sunday the Catholic web site The Pillar revealed the textual content of the overall congregation speech given Wednesday by Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, a powerful advocate for the territory’s pro-democracy motion. The cardinal shared a couple of fond reminiscences of Francis earlier than attacking the pontiff’s signature theological focus, synodality.
“The phrase ‘reform’ is magical, particularly for the younger, however additionally it is harmful,” the 93-year-old cardinal reportedly stated.
Zen additionally pushed again in opposition to Francis’ concept that clericalism, or priestly entitlement, was behind the phenomenon of clergy sexual abuse that has so lengthy tormented the church. As an alternative, Zen blamed the sexual revolution of the Sixties, saying, “We can’t assist however see a misguided effort to adapt to the spirit of the world relatively than firmly opposing it.”
After calling on the subsequent pope to “decisively” halt the synodal course of, Zen stated, “this can be a matter of life or loss of life for the church based by Jesus.”
