‘Discern and order’: Cardinal calls for continuation of Pope Francis’ reform path

Cardinal Baldassare Reina celebrates Mass on Day 3 of the Novendiales Masses for Pope Francis on April 28, 2025, in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

CNA Newsroom, Apr 28, 2025 / 18:42 pm (CNA).

Cardinal Baldassare Reina urged the faithful to “discern and order” the late pontiff’s reform initiatives while acknowledging the sense of loss felt by Rome’s Catholics in his homily on the third day of “Novendiales” Masses for Pope Francis.

Speaking at St. Peter’s Basilica on Monday, April 28, the 54-year-old vicar general for the Diocese of Rome described how the faithful feel like “sheep without a shepherd” following the pontiff’s death.

“I think of the multiple reform processes of Church life initiated by Pope Francis, which extend beyond religious affiliations. People recognized him as a universal pastor,” Reina said. “These people carry concern in their hearts, and I seem to discern in them a question: What will become of the processes that have begun?”

The Italian cardinal, who will vote in the conclave scheduled to begin May 7, said that true fidelity requires continuing the path set by Pope Francis rather than retreating from it.

“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,” he stated.

Drawing on the Gospel of John, Reina reflected on the parable of the grain of wheat that must die to bear fruit, comparing it to Christians becoming “seeds” willing to be spent for new life. He warned against responding to current challenges with fear or worldly compromise.

“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,” the cardinal emphasized.

He concluded his homily with a tribute to Pope Francis, comparing the pontiff’s final Easter Sunday appearance to the radical act of sowing described in Scripture: “That extreme, total, exhausting gesture of the sower made me think of Pope Francis’ Easter Sunday, of that outpouring of blessings and embraces to his people, the day before he died. The final act of his tireless sowing of the announcement of God’s mercies. Thank you, Pope Francis.”

In closing, the cardinal invoked the Blessed Virgin Mary, venerated in Rome as “Salus Populi Romani,” to accompany and protect the Church.