Memorial mass for Cardinal Cassidy

On Monday 19 April 2021, the staff of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity gathered in the Church of Our Lady of Mercy in the German Cemetery in the Vatican for a memorial mass for the late Cardinal Edward Idris Cassidy, Emeritus President of the Dicastery.

The celebration was presided over by Cardinal Kurt Koch, current President of the PCPCU, together with Cardinal Walter Kasper, Emeritus President, and Bishop Brian Farrell, Secretary.

In his homily, Cardinal Koch commented on Psalm 121, “The Lord will guard your coming and going both now and forever” and the prayer of our Lord before his Passion (Jn 17), citing Cardinal Cassidy’s address at Trier, when, in referring to Christ’s seamless tunic, he spoke painfully that “today it is in shreds and pieces, in confessions and denominations that, over the course of history, have often fought against one another instead of fulfilling the Lord’s mandate to be one”.

The eulogy was delivered by Cardinal Kasper, who recalled Cardinal Cassidy’s precious contribution to promoting unity, concluding: “How can there be peace in the world if we in the Churches are not the leaven of unity and peace? As President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Cardinal Cassidy contributed to this peace, of which we are so much in need”.