Charity, doctrinal firmness, good governance and internal unity - Cardinal makes clear the only way forward from the debacle

"Prayer for the Church of the Near Future"

Ruini sets the tone for the next pontificate: charity, doctrinal firmness, good governance, and unity

Cardinal Camillo Ruini has shared a reflection in the form of an interior prayer, in which he expresses his wishes for the Church of the future, focusing on charity, doctrinal firmness, good governance, and internal unity. The text has been released in the days leading up to the start of the next conclave.

Courtesy of Sandro Magister's blog, the "Prayer for the Church of the Near Future," written by Cardinal Camillo Ruini, has been released. In it, the cardinal expresses his wishes for the Church in the face of the next pontificate.

According to the cardinal, "the legacy of Pope Francis is a question that challenges and profoundly shakes the Church." This is why he formulates "four wishes—which are also invocations—for the Church in a future that I hope is very close." His wishes are, in turn, prayer intentions, which he would like to see widely shared:

First of all, then, a good and charitable Church. Love brought to the effectiveness of life is in fact the supreme law of Christian witness and, therefore, of the Church. And this is what people, even today, most yearn for. In our style of government, therefore, all useless harshness, all pettiness, and dryness of heart must be eliminated.

As Benedict XVI wrote, faith today is a flame that threatens to go out. Rekindling this flame is therefore another great priority of the Church. This requires much prayer, the ability to respond Christianly to today's intellectual challenges, but also the certainty of truth and the security of doctrine. For too many years, we have been experiencing that, if these are weakened, all of us, pastors and faithful, are severely penalized.

Then there is the question of government. Benedict XVI's pontificate has been undermined by his poor capacity to govern, and this is a concern that applies to all times, including the near future. Furthermore, we must not forget that this is about governing that very special reality that is the Church. Here, as I said, the fundamental law is love: the style of government and the recourse to the law must be as consistent as possible with this law, which is very demanding for anyone.

In recent years, we have perceived some threats—which I do not wish to exaggerate—to the unity and communion of the Church. To overcome them and bring to light what I like to call the "Catholic way" of the Church, mutual charity is once again decisive, but it is also important to raise awareness that the Church, like every social body, has its rules, which no one can ignore with impunity.

The Italian cardinal concludes by indicating that at his age, 94, silence is more appropriate than words, but he hopes that his words will be a small fruit of the love he has for the Church.

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