Pope Gives Rings to New Cardinals at Mass on Feast of Chair of Peter

This article ran in CNY in March of 2001

Posted

Cardinal Egan received the traditional gold ring of a cardinal from Pope John Paul II, who presented such rings to the 44 new cardinals at a Mass in St. Peter’s Square Feb. 22—the feast of the Chair of Peter—where the pope spoke of the unity of the Church around its visible head, the successor of St. Peter, and told the cardinals he is counting on their guidance.

He called on them in a homily to pray with him for the restoration of Christian unity, to care for the People of God as Christ instructed Peter to do and to be ready to give their lives for the sake of the Gospel.

‘‘I call you, esteemed brother cardinals, to bind yourselves to the See of Peter in the special ministry of unity that has been confided to it,’’ the pope said, telling them the rings they now wear are ‘‘evidence of the special link which binds you to this Apostolic See.’’

The pope said, ‘‘I count on you to guide me in the way of truth and love,’’ so that the Church will become ‘‘ever more effectively the sign and instrument of unity for all the human race.’’

The cardinals received the heavy square rings, which are engraved with the crucifixion, after the pope spoke. Cardinal Egan kissed the pope’s ring after receiving his own.

The solemn Mass began with the procession of the new cardinals, who as concelebrants wore pale gold chasubles and their scarlet zucchettos. After marching into the square from St. Peter’s Basilica, they kissed the altar and proceeded to their seats, which flanked the altar in two long lines. The crowd in St. Peter’s Square greeted them with waves of applause.

Following the cardinals, the pope emerged from the basilica with his masters of ceremonies and acolytes to strong applause. Above him on the facade of St. Peter’s hung a banner bearing the papal coat of arms.

Behind the new cardinals on the left were the other members of the College of Cardinals in scarlet attire, and bishops and archbishops in purple, all with white surplices, and priests in cassocks and surplices or the habits of their order.

The colors stood out sharply as the sunlight, unexpectedly bright for February, struck the golden vessels on the altar.

The Mass was celebrated in Italian and Latin, with hymns in Latin, with the first reading in English and the second in Spanish. The prayer of the faithful had petitions offered in German, Polish, Portuguese, Arabic, Hindi and French, illustrating what the pope had said at the consistory the previous day about the Church extending to ‘‘all corners of the planet.’’|

The pope embraced and blessed two small children who were among those presenting the offertory gifts.

Deacon Luke Sweeney of Irvington-on-Hudson, a seminarian from the archdiocese who is studying at the North American College in Rome, was Deacon of the Eucharist.

Among the New Yorkers at the Mass was Timmian Massie, college relations officer at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, who came to Rome for the week’s events with his mother, Frances Massie, a member of St. Joseph’s parish in Poughkeepsie.

A lay man who once spent two years at the North American College as a seminarian for the archdiocese, Massie recalled that Cardinal Egan—a former teacher at the college—used to visit and take seminarians out for breakfast at the Hotel Columbus in Rome.

‘‘He was well-known in Rome, and now he’s making a connection between the Archdiocese of New York and the Church in Rome,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s a tremendous opportunity for the archdiocese.’’ The honor for Cardinal Egan is well-deserved, he added. ‘‘He gave almost a quarter-century of his life to the service of the Church in Rome,’’ he said.

Mrs. Massie, asked why she had come to Rome, pointed to the silky, white scarf she was wearing, which bore the image of Cardinal Egan on one side and the name of St. Mary’s parish in Poughkeepsie on the other. She said she had met Cardinal Egan the previous day and found him ‘‘down-to-earth’’ and ‘‘very good to everyone.’’

She said she was overwhelmed by the ceremonies, calling them ‘‘so exciting,’’ and offering that ‘‘I burst into tears any time I see the pope.’’ She added, ‘‘I’m Polish.’’`

Pope John Paul told the cardinals in his homily that the Chair of St. Peter was a particularly appropriate feast for the Mass because it ‘‘constitutes a singular and eloquent sign of unity, with which we together begin the post-Jubilee period.’’ He also called the feast ‘‘an invitation to deepen the reflection on the Petrine ministry, to which your function as cardinals particularly refers.’’

He called the cardinals ‘‘the primary cooperators in the ministry of unity of the Roman Pontiff.|

‘‘The scarlet that they wear recalls the blood of the martyrs, sealed by Peter and Paul, on whose supreme witness is based the calling and the universal mission of the Church of Rome and of her pastor.’’ Statues of St. Peter and St. Paul stood on the altar.

The pope acknowledged the controversy among the Christian churches over the papacy and its authority.

‘‘How can we not remember that the ministry of Peter, the visible source of unity constitutes a difficulty for the other churches and ecclesial communities?’’ he asked. He noted that during the first millennium, the primacy of the Bishop of Rome ‘‘was exercised without meeting resistance in the Churches of either the West or the East.’’

He called on the cardinals to pray with him that the new millennium ‘‘shall soon see the overcoming of this situation and the recovery of full communion.’’

‘‘May the Holy Spirit give to all believers the light and the strength necessary to realize the ardent desire of the Lord,’’ he said. ‘‘I ask you to help me and to cooperate in every way in this pressing mission.’’

He noted the cardinals’ responsibility to carry out Christ’s command to Peter to ‘‘feed my sheep.’’ In fact, he said, the Chair of Peter is ‘‘inseparable’’ from the pastoral staff of the Good Shepherd. The cardinals must follow Peter’s instruction to the elders of the Churches of Asia Minor to ‘‘feed the flock of God...and be examples to them,’’ the pope said.

‘‘Be faithful to your mission, ready to give your lives for the Gospel,’’ he said.

He emphasized the importance of being willing to suffer for the faith.

‘‘As it was for Christ and for Peter, so shall it be also for you: Your most effective witness will always be that sealed by the cross,’’ he said. ‘‘The cross is the teaching seat of God in the world.’’

At the end of Mass, the pope was driven through St. Peter’s Square in an open, cream-colored vehicle resembling a large jeep. The crowds pressed against the barriers for a better view, and the pope waved and blessed them as he passed.

Dr. Ruth T. Doyle, director of the archdiocesan Office of Pastoral Research and Planning, said that the consistory and the Mass offered dramatic proof of the universality of the Church. ‘‘Being able to talk to Catholics from around the world gives you a sense that you’re really, truly part of the Church, and that the Church reaches out to all peoples,’’ she said.

Each of the cardinals was permitted to choose one person to receive the Eucharist from the pope. Cardinal Egan chose his niece, Mary Hayes, for that honor. Mrs. Hayes was one of 40 family members who attended the consistory, 10 of whom were presented to the Holy Father at an audience on Feb. 23.