Cardinal John Dew says he had a great sense of gratitude
for the life and ministry of Pope Francis as he participated
in the papal funeral in St Peter’s Square on
Saturday.
Cardinal Dew, the former
Archbishop of Wellington, was among more than 200 cardinals
gathered with about 250,000 mourners around the square –
and up to 1 million across Rome – to pray for the repose
of Pope Francis’ soul.
As he prayed
with that great number, Cardinal Dew reflected on his own
emotions.
“I think for me, there was this deep
gratitude for what Pope Francis has done for the Church in
the 12 years that he was the Pontiff – and for the
world,” he said.
“It’s very emotional to think
of that, too, that he’s had such an effect on the
world.”
That effect had been evident when Cardinal
Dew was waiting for the papal funeral to start. He was in St
Peter’s Basilica as heads of state were among the last to
pay their respects to Pope Francis before the
Mass.
“From where I was sitting, you could look
across and see President Macron and President Zelensky and
President Trump, sitting near each other. It’s incredible
to have all these people in the same place,” he
described.
Cardinal Dew said the Mass itself was
“very beautifully done, very simply done”, allowing the
diversity of the Church to be seen through prayer, language
and music.
“The silence, too, at times, was
amazing,” he said. “There were thousands and thousands
of people there, but just before we sung the litany of the
saints, there was this absolute silence.”
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That
silence had been juxtaposed during Cardinal Dew’s time in
Rome when walking the streets he would hear chants of
“Papa Francesco” as people expressed their love and
admiration for the late Pope.
He said that love, which
has also been shown to other Popes, underlines the ideas
that Catholics see their leader as a father
figure.
Cardinal Dew was also struck by something not
many people would have seen. When Pope Francis’ body
arrived at the Basilica of St Mary Major after the funeral,
he was met by a group of people his pontificate had
emphasised: refugees, prisoners, the poor.
“This
wasn’t something that was happening on the sidelines; this
was an official part of the proceedings,” Cardinal Dew
said.
The work of the College of Cardinals will now
shift to two main focus areas: Prayer and
conversation.
Daily memorial Masses for Pope Francis
will be celebrated until next Sunday. The cardinals will
also be meeting for general congregations, during which time
the disparate group of men will get to know each other
better.
“These will be opportunities for
conversations, for people to describe the kind of person
that they believe would be the right person to lead the
Church, the qualities that are needed,” Cardinal Dew
said.
“We will also be talking about what’s needed
in the Church today and what’s needed in the world today,
because there’s no doubt that the Pope is a world leader as
well.”
Cardinal Dew said personal and communal
prayer will be critical alongside those
discussions.
Before leaving New Zealand on Wednesday,
he mentioned in a video to the Catholic community how the
singing of the litany of saints would accompany the
cardinals they begin the conclave.
A friend sent him a
message, saying they would pray a litany of saints each
night for Cardinal Dew and the other cardinals. Others have
taken on that practice, too.
Cardinal Dew himself has
added a recitation of the litany of saints to his daily
prayer. He said if other people would join him in doing so
“that would be wonderful”.
“It’s very much
trying to be prayerful about the whole thing and looking on
this as an experience of prayer, which it has to be,” he
said.
Cardinal Dew will become the third New Zealander
to participate in a conclave when it begins. It cannot start
until after the nine-day period of mourning concludes next
Sunday.
