Pope Francis to Cardinals: ‘I Hope God
Forgives You’
Cardinal Dolan recounts how the new Holy Father joked with
cardinals over dinner.
by ESTEFANIA AGUIRRE/CNA/EWTN 03/14/2013
Cardinal Timothy Dolan speaks March 13 at the North American College in Rome.
– Alan Holdren/CAN
ROME — The newly elected Pope Francis joked with cardinals over
dinner, telling them he hopes God forgives them for having chosen him.
“When the secretary of state toasted to him, he toasted back to us
and said, ‘I hope God forgives you,’” Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York
recalled at the Pontifical North American College.
“He has already won our hearts, and we had a very fraternal meal
at the Domus Santa Marta, where we have been staying,” said the cardinal during
a 11pm March 13 press conference.
“Pope Francis also told us … ‘I’m going to sleep well, and
something tells me you will, too.’ And we will, knowing that the Church is in
good hands,” said the New York cardinal, who described the conclave’s decision
as bringing a “sense of release and of serenity.”
The Argentinian Pope, former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, used
only public transportation, unlike many cardinals, to move around the city of
Buenos Aires, where he was living until now.
Cardinal Dolan told how Pope Francis used the last of the
cardinals’ minibuses to return to the St. Martha house, instead of using the
papal car with the license plate “Stato Vaticano 1.”
And last night he didn’t go up on the platform to sit on the papal
chair, but instead stayed down and greeted each cardinal.
“It’s clear he already takes very seriously his role as the Bishop
of Rome, since Pope Francis said he would venerate Our Lady, Help of the Roman
People, today,” said Cardinal Dolan.
“It was a very beautiful, inspirational and moving evening, and
it’s something I’ll never forget,” he added.
After Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re announced the Pope’s name to
the cardinals last night, Pope Francis accepted. The Jesuit Pope told the
cardinals he chose the name Francis in honor of St. Francis of Assisi, not in
honor of the Jesuit St. Francis Xavier.
Cardinal Battista Re then read the Bible passage where Jesus
chooses St. Peter and says, “To you I give the keys of the Kingdom of heaven;
whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you untie on
earth will be untied in heaven.”
The cardinals sang the Te Deum, and
the new Pope spent a few minutes in adoration, a new tradition that has
begun with him.
Cardinal Dolan told journalists that elderly cardinals had said to
him before the conclave, “Once you get in there, you will feel the gentle
breeze of the Holy Spirit, and you’ll feel God’s grace very much at work.”
“Not that there was thunder, but you feel a very beautiful sense
of resignation and direction as you see things unfolding,” said the cardinal.
He noted, “Although you could see God’s hands at work, that didn’t
absolve us from our responsibility.”
Cardinal Dolan also described seeing the relationship with a
fellow cardinal suddenly change because of his new identity at “an astounding
moment.”
“All of a sudden, his clothes are different; his name is
different; and our relationship with him is different.”
Cardinal Dolan said that the morning of the Pope’s election he was
hugging the Argentinian cardinal.
He said, “As sincere, as simple and as humble as he so radiantly
is, his identity is new, and that I found extraordinarily moving.”
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