Pope Leo XIV in Homily says "God's love is faithful; nothing can defeat it or separate us from it" at Funeral of Cardinal Ruini

Pope Leo XIV presides over the funeral Mass for Cardinal Ruini, a key figure in the Italian Church for decades, who passed away last Tuesday at the age of 95.  Pope Leo XIV gave the funeral homily for Cardinal Camillo Ruini—who died on June 16 at the age of 95—in St. Peter’s Basilica on Thursday afternoon. The late cardinal served as Vicar General of the Diocese of Rome and Archpriest of the Basilica of St. John Lateran from 1991 to 2008, and as President of the Italian Episcopal Conference from 1991 to 2007. In his homily, Pope Leo recalled with gratitude the projects, insights, and initiatives undertaken by Ruini during his many years of service to the Church.
PAPAL CHAPEL FOR THE FUNERAL OF CARDINAL CAMILLO RUINI
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE LEO XIV
Altar of the Chair of St. Peter's Basilica on Thursday, June 18, 2026
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Dear brothers and sisters,

We celebrate this Eucharist entrusting to the mercy of the Lord our brother Cardinal Camillo Ruini, a wise and caring shepherd of Christ's flock.

For many years he served the Church, carrying out with the same dedication both the most humble and the most fraught with responsibility that the Lord entrusted to him, as a priest, Bishop, and Cardinal: in teaching, study, and theological study, in pastoral service, in youth work, in the cultural sphere, in the care of the laity and vocations, and in the exercise of authority.

The Church in Italy, which he served for nearly seventeen years as President of the Episcopal Conference, owes him a great deal, as does the Diocese of Rome, where he served as Vicar of the Holy Father for the same length of time. He was able to guide the People of God and his brothers in the Episcopate in important and delicate moments, facing numerous challenges with enthusiasm, discernment, and courage.

We owe to him insights and initiatives that have left a profound mark on the ecclesial and civil communities. We think of the "Cultural Project"; of his profound commitment to promoting the contribution of the Catholic world in the most diverse spheres of Italian religious, civil, and political life; of the great work of the diocesan Synod and its implementation here in Rome; of his active and dialoguing presence at various levels of the life of the Church, as well as of the secular world and society.

As we remember him and entrust him to the arms of our heavenly Father, let us be enlightened by the Word of God we have heard and also by some thoughts he himself left in writing.

The first reading echoed the vibrant words of the Apostle Paul: "Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God" ( Rom 8:38-39). This is the truth that also inspired Cardinal Ruini in his ministry. God's love is faithful; nothing can defeat it or separate us from it, because it is his gift, it comes from Him, and it is poured out upon us beyond our merits and weaknesses. Our dear brother accompanied the faithful and communities entrusted to him during his long service through many vicissitudes, and it is precisely in the Lord's invincible charity and in the response of faith to this gift that we must seek the root of the strength with which he faced them.

In his Spiritual Testament, speaking of the many people toward whom he felt gratitude for the good they had bestowed upon him, Cardinal Camillo wrote: "From them I have received no less than I have tried to give." I think these are words that can also help us to live our responsibilities and our various services with the same humility and the same trust in God.

Moreover, he himself testified that one of the resources that most accompanied him throughout his long existence, since childhood, was prayer: simple, heartfelt, fresh in his most tender years and then matured over time, until the season of fragility and illness.

Another phrase from Scripture offered to us by the Liturgy, which can help us live this moment of grace fruitfully, are the words of Jesus we heard in the Gospel: "Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am" ( Jn 17:24). In them we find a summary of the plan, direction, and ultimate purpose of a life spent for the good of our brothers and sisters and lived in constant search of God's plans for his own salvation and theirs. Cardinal Ruini wrote in this regard: "I hope, Lord, that I have acted not for personal gain but for the objectives entrusted to me and which I wholeheartedly shared" ( Spiritual Testament ). It is beautiful to remember, at this moment, the reality that profoundly animated, beyond and above all other concerns, his heart as a Pastor. As we accompany him with prayer and the offering of the Eucharist, we make his desire our own: to reach where the Lord awaits and desires us, in eternal joy, and to walk toward the goal, each with the desire to participate in it with others, united, in Him and among ourselves, forever.

Cardinal Camillo Ruini had the grace of personally knowing and working with some of the great saints of recent times, such as Saint Paul VI and Saint John Paul II . In particular, of his relationship with Pope Wojtyła, with whom he collaborated for many years, he wrote: "In John Paul II I experienced your presence, Lord; I was able to touch firsthand the union in prayer, the inseparability of prayer, life, and apostolate, the courage of faith that guides history, the capacity to love and forgive" ( ibid .). I believe that the Cardinal was able to draw so much from the great Pontiff's example of unity of life, because we can also find in him many of the traits with which he describes the Holy Pope; and I think that this consonance of sentiments can also inspire us on our journey.

As the motto of his episcopate, our brother had chosen a phrase inspired by the Gospel of St. John: Veritas liberabit nos , "The truth will set us free" (cf. Jn 8:32). These words sum up the profound concept of personhood and freedom that Christ revealed to us and that the Church teaches: we are made for truth and goodness, and only in this do we find unity, peace, and full fulfillment, in earthly life and in eternity. They clearly remind us of a particularly significant message for our time, in which we can be disoriented by relativistic tendencies and totally fluid visions of reality and humanity. Looking at the life of Cardinal Ruini, at how he lived and how he left this world, we can grasp a sign of the strength and solidity with which man grows and matures when he finds the center and pivot of his existence in the Truth that comes from God.

In conclusion, I would like to express my gratitude to those who, as I mentioned, accompanied, assisted, and supported the Cardinal in his work, during his pastoral service, and especially in his years of old age and infirmity. In particular, I would like to thank those who were close to him until the end with devoted dedication. May the Lord reward everyone, grant comfort to his relatives and loved ones, and grant him the reward of his unending peace.