At final memorial Mass, Pope remembered as tireless shepherd

By CathNews New Zealand

May 6th, 2025

French Cardinal Dominique Mamberti, protodeacon of the College of Cardinals, gives his homily as he presides at the final Mass of the "novendiali", the nine days of official mourning for Pope Francis, at the Altar of the Confession in St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican on May 4, 2025. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

On the final day of official mourning for the death of Pope Francis, the late Pontiff was remembered as someone who was determined to live out the mission entrusted to him. Source: Catholic News Service.

Presiding over a memorial Mass on May 4, French Cardinal Dominique Mamberti, protodeacon of the College of Cardinals, said Pope Francis “remained faithful to his mission to the very exhaustion of his strength”.

“I was close to him on Easter Sunday, on the balcony of blessings of this basilica, as a witness to his suffering, but above all to his courage and determination to serve the people of God to the end,” Cardinal Mamberti said in his homily in St Peter’s Basilica.

The memorial Mass marked the final day of the “novendiali” – the nine days of official mourning and Masses for the late Pope.

Unless he is elected pope, as the senior cardinal deacon, Cardinal Mamberti is also tasked with declaring the election of the new pope to the public by proclaiming the words, “Habemus papam” (“We have a pope”).

In his homily, the French cardinal reflected on the Gospel reading that recalled Jesus’ threefold question to Peter, asking the disciple if he loved him and then entrusting him to “feed” and “tend my sheep”. The mission entrusted to Peter, Cardinal Mamberti said, “is love itself which becomes service to the Church and to all humanity”.

In his teachings, travels, gestures and way of life, Pope Francis was faithful to that mission by warning “the powerful that we must obey God rather than men” and by proclaiming “to all humanity the joy of the Gospel, the merciful Father and Christ the saviour”, the cardinal said.

Cardinal Mamberti added that Pope Francis’ “tireless pastoral life and countless encounters were grounded in long periods of prayer shaped by Ignatian discipline. He often reminded us that contemplation is ‘a dynamic of love’ that ‘lifts us to God not to detach us from the earth, but to help us inhabit it more deeply’”.

On Monday, May 5, the cardinals were due to meet for general congregations in the morning and evening. On May 6, only a morning session is planned so far, with a possible afternoon session if needed.

The conclave to elect a new Pontiff starts on Wednesday, May 7.

FULL STORY

At final memorial Mass, Pope Francis remembered as tireless shepherd (By Junno Arocho Esteves/CNS)

Cardinal Mamberti: Pope Francis, faithful to his mission with all his strength (Vatican News)