On the morning of May 7, 2025, under the resounding dome of St. Peter’s Basilica, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re delivered the homily for the Missa pro eligendo Pontifice—a Mass that solemnly precedes the election of a new pope. With 133 cardinal electors preparing to enter the Sistine Chapel for one of the Church’s most sacred and history-shaping moments, Cardinal Re offered more than a liturgical meditation. He issued a spiritual and moral call to the universal Church, a summons filled with gravity, humility, and hope. As we reflect on his message through the lens of the Vincentian charism—a tradition centered on the love of Christ in service to the poor—we uncover a powerful alignment between the Church’s deepest needs and the legacy of St. Vincent de Paul.

Read the full homily here.

1. Prayerful Unity Under the Gaze of Mary

Cardinal Re begins by drawing a parallel with the early Church community gathered in prayer with Mary, the Mother of Jesus, in the upper room (Acts 1:14). In this posture of expectant prayer, the Church today imitates its origins.

St. Vincent urged his followers to pray before acting, insisting on being grounded in divine inspiration. This moment of ecclesial discernment reflects a Vincentian heart: one that listens before it acts, especially when the action is as weighty as electing the next universal shepherd.

2. Invoking the Holy Spirit Amidst Complexity

The cardinal emphasized that invoking the Holy Spirit is the only just and necessary attitude before such an important decision for the Church and the world. It is not a political process—it is a spiritual discernment.

In complex and painful social realities, St. Vincent taught discernment in action. His successors are called to read the signs of the times, always attentive to the Holy Spirit’s voice in the cries of the poor. Today’s Church faces not only doctrinal questions but also the cries of migration, ecological crisis, and secularism. The Holy Spirit is the only light that can illuminate such dense shadows.

3. The Mandate of Love

Cardinal Re highlighted Jesus’ commandment from the Last Supper: “Love one another as I have loved you” (Jn 15:12–13), reminding us that love—limitless and sacrificial—is the new measure of holiness and leadership.

Love, as St. Vincent taught, is not sentiment but service. To “give one’s life for one’s friends” means engaging in the concrete reality of the poor, as Christ did. The next pope must be able to embody this love—not only in his words but in his posture toward the vulnerable, the excluded, and the invisible of our time.

4. Fraternity and the Civilization of Love

The homily points to the building of a “civilization of love,” quoting Pope Paul VI. It is a civilization rooted not in avoidance of evil but in the active pursuit of fraternal charity.

This resonates deeply with the Vincentian Family’s commitment to building a society where human dignity flourishes. The civilization of love is not an abstract utopia—it is daily bread for the hungry, justice for the exploited, and community for the abandoned. It is service without discrimination, echoing Christ’s washing of the disciples’ feet—including Judas.

5. Love as the Mark of True Pastoral Leadership

Cardinal Re reminds us that the true mark of a shepherd is love—even to the point of total self-gift. This echoes Isaiah’s call to a pastoral ministry grounded in tenderness and sacrifice.

Pastoral leadership must be lived in proximity to the people. St. Vincent always called his priests and Daughters of Charity to “see Christ in the poor.” The new pope must be a shepherd whose authority flows not from power, but from kenosis—from emptied self-giving.

6. Ecclesial Communion and the Role of the Pope

Re stressed that the pope’s primary task is to foster communion: between the bishops and the pope, among the bishops themselves, and among all peoples and cultures. This is not a closed communion, but one that opens outward.

Communion is more than organizational harmony. It is mission. For Vincentians, unity comes from shared service, from mutual concern for the least of these. The Church must be a “house and school of communion,” where service becomes the common language across differences.

7. Unity Without Uniformity

He insists that unity does not mean uniformity but rather deep communion in diversity, always anchored in the Gospel.

The Vincentian Family is global, lay and religious, young and old. Its diversity is a gift, as long as all remain tethered to the Gospel and to the poor. The new pope must embrace the multiplicity of cultures, expressions, and charisms—not flatten them.

8. The Papacy as Continuation of Peter

The election of a pope is not merely about succession—it is the reappearance of Peter, the rock upon whom the Church is built. This sacramental theology of the papacy roots the conclave in profound continuity.

For Vincent, fidelity to the Church and its mission was non-negotiable. But that fidelity had to be lived through radical closeness to the poor. A new Peter must hold together the doctrinal firmness of the Church with a renewed evangelical courage to go out to the peripheries.

9. The Weight of the Decision

Cardinal Re quotes the Roman Triptych of John Paul II and Dante’s “sovereign keys,” evoking the gravity of the choice facing the electors and their accountability before God.

St. Vincent often reminded his collaborators of their immense responsibility. Decisions made in the rooms of privilege echo in the streets of poverty. The next pope must be elected not with human calculation but with trembling openness to God’s will—for he holds keys that can open or close paths of hope for millions.

10. A Pope to Awaken Consciences

Re concludes by expressing the need for a pope who can awaken the conscience of humanity in a world of technological advancement yet spiritual amnesia.

The Vincentian charism is a conscience-awakening charism. It sees Christ in the poor and challenges structures that blind society to injustice. The Church must not merely accompany—it must prophetically denounce and creatively respond. The pope must be a spiritual alarm bell in a world half-asleep.

A Threshold Moment

As the cardinals enter the Sistine Chapel, the eyes of the faithful—and of history—are upon them. But beyond the spectacle lies something more enduring: a cry for shepherding, for vision, for love made flesh. The next pope will not only steer a Church through turbulent waters; he will also be called to make the Gospel credible again, especially among the poor, the young, and the disillusioned.

In the Vincentian spirit, this is not a time for maintenance but for mission. It is not a time for isolation but for communion. The successor of Francis must be a man of profound inner freedom, able to bear both the joys and the burdens of Peter’s chair. May the Spirit of Christ, who was sent “to bring good news to the poor,” choose the heart that will lead the Church into a new season of renewal, mercy, and hope.

Let us, then, pray—not for a powerful pope, but for a holy one; not for a brilliant strategist, but for a defender of people; not for a manager, but for a witness.