St. Peter’s Basilica bid farewell on Thursday, June 18, 2026, to one of the men who most firmly defined the identity of European Catholicism at the turn of the century. Pope Leo XIV presided over the funeral Mass for Cardinal Camillo Ruini, who died after a long life marked by illness and frailty, at the Altar of the Chair. In a homily of a distinctly spiritual nature, yet with clear insights into the challenges of contemporary society, the Pontiff celebrated Ruini not only as a pastor, but also as the driving force behind the “Cultural Project” that placed the voice of Catholics at the heart of civic and political debate.

The balance between humble service and doctrinal power

For seventeen years as head of the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI) and another seventeen as Vicar of the Pope for the Diocese of Rome, Camillo Ruini was the great strategist of the era of Saint John Paul II in Italy. Leo XIV began his address by dispelling the dichotomy between the political administrator and the priest, recalling that he served with equal dedication “in the humblest tasks as well as those most burdened with responsibility.”

The Pope has quoted Cardinal Ruini’s own words from his spiritual testament to underscore the cardinal’s profound humanity:  “From them I received no less than I tried to give ,” the cardinal wrote, referring to the communities he shepherded. For Leo XIV, this thought is a lesson in humility applicable to those who hold positions of responsibility today, both within and outside the Church.

Harmony with John Paul II in the face of relativism

One of the most symbolically charged moments of the homily was the evocation of the close alliance between Ruini and Karol Wojtyła. The late cardinal wrote in his memoirs that he had witnessed firsthand in John Paul II the indissoluble union between prayer, life, and a courage capable of guiding history. Leo XIV suggested that this same strength was reflected in Ruini’s own trajectory, as he adopted as his episcopal motto the Johannine quote  Veritas liberabit nos  (The truth will set us free).

At this point, the Pope delivered a message that directly resonates with current social issues, contrasting the cardinal’s intellectual rigor with today’s ideological trends:

“These words clearly remind us of a message that is particularly significant for our time, in which there is a risk of becoming disoriented by relativistic drifts and by totally fluid views of reality and of the human being.”

The final stretch: from influence to the silence of the disease

Ruini’s final years, spent away from the public eye, were marked by the silence of his physical ailment. The Pope revealed that prayer—which the cardinal described in his notes as “simple, vibrant in his youth and matured with time”—was the true driving force that sustained him in his last days.

Towards the end of the liturgy, Leo XIV publicly expressed his gratitude to the family and, in a very special way, to the medical staff and collaborators who cared for the cardinal with “devout dedication” until his final days. With his passing, the Church bids farewell to an intellectual who demonstrated that faith does not fear confronting modernity, but rather thrives when it finds its foundation in truth.

Full text of the homily:

Papal Chapel for the Funeral Rites of His Eminence Cardinal Camillo Ruini

HOMILY OF THE HOLY FATHER LEO XIV

Altare della Cattedra  of St. Peter’s Basilica

Thursday, June 18, 2026

Dear brothers and sisters:

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

For many years he served the Church, performing with equal dedication both the humblest tasks and those most burdened with responsibility that the Lord wished to entrust to him as a priest, bishop, and cardinal: in teaching, in theological study and deepening, in pastoral service, in youth animation, in the cultural sphere, in the care of the laity and vocations, and in the exercise of authority.

The Church in Italy owes him a great debt, having served it for nearly seventeen years as president of the Episcopal Conference; as does the Diocese of Rome, where he served for the same period as Vicar of the Holy Father. He guided the People of God and his fellow bishops through important and delicate moments, facing numerous challenges with enthusiasm, discernment, and courage.

He is responsible for insights and initiatives that have left a profound mark on the path of both the ecclesial and civil communities. Consider, for example, the “Cultural Project”; his dedication to promoting the Catholic world’s contributions in the most diverse spheres of Italian religious, civil, and political life; the significant work of the Diocesan Synod and its implementation here in Rome; and his active and dialogical presence at various levels of Church life, as well as in the secular world and society at large.

As we remember him and entrust him to the arms of the Heavenly Father, we allow ourselves to be enlightened by the Word of God that we have heard and also by some thoughts that he himself left written.

In the first reading, the vibrant words of the Apostle Paul resonated: “Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God” (Romans 8:38-39). This is the truth that also inspired Cardinal Ruini in his ministry. God’s love is faithful; nothing can overcome it or separate us from it, because it is his gift, it comes from him, and it is granted to us beyond all our merit and weakness. Many were the vicissitudes through which our dear brother accompanied the faithful and the communities entrusted to him throughout his long service, and it is precisely in the Lord’s invincible charity and in the response of faith to this gift that we must seek the source of the strength with which he faced them.

In his spiritual testament, speaking of the many people to whom he felt gratitude for the good they had done for him, Cardinal Camillo wrote: “From them I have received no less than I have tried to give.” I believe these are words that can help us also to live out our responsibilities and our various ministries with the same humility and the same trust in God.

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

Another passage from Scripture that the liturgy has offered us, and which can help us to live fruitfully in this moment of grace, is the words of Jesus that we heard in the Gospel: “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am” (Jn 17:24). In them we find summarized the program, the direction, and the ultimate goal of a life spent for the good of others and lived in the constant search for God’s plan for his own salvation and theirs. Cardinal Ruini wrote in this regard: “I hope, Lord, that I have acted not out of personal interests but for the goals entrusted to me and which I shared wholeheartedly” (Spiritual Testament). It is beautiful to recall, at this moment, the reality that deeply animated, beyond and above any other concern, his heart as a shepherd. As we accompany Him with prayer and the offering of the Eucharist, we make His desire our own: to reach where the Lord awaits us and desires us, in eternal joy, and to walk towards the goal, one with the desire to be participants together with the others, united, in Him and among us, forever.

Cardinal Camillo Ruini had the grace of personally knowing and working with some great saints of recent times, such as Saint Paul VI and Saint John Paul II. In particular, regarding his relationship with Pope Wojtyła, with whom he collaborated for so many years, he wrote: “In John Paul II I experienced your presence, Lord; I was able to touch with my own hand the unity in prayer, the inseparability of prayer, life, and apostolate, the courage of the faith that guides history, the capacity to love and to forgive” ( ibid. ). I believe that the Cardinal drew 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 such a consonance of sentiments can also encourage us on our own journey.

As the motto for his episcopate, our brother had chosen a phrase inspired by the Gospel of Saint John:  Veritas liberabit nos , “The truth will set you free” (cf. Jn 8:32). These words summarize the profound understanding of the person and of freedom that Christ revealed to us and that the Church teaches: we are made for truth and for goodness, and only in this do we find unity, peace, and full realization, in earthly life and for eternity. They clearly remind us of a message particularly significant for our time, in which we can risk becoming disoriented by relativistic drifts and by entirely fluid views of reality and of humanity. Looking at the life of Cardinal Ruini, how he lived and how he left this world, we can grasp a sign of the strength and solidity with which humanity grows and matures when it finds in the Truth that comes from God the center and axis of its own existence.

In closing, I wish to express my gratitude to those who, as already mentioned, accompanied, assisted, and supported the Cardinal in his work, during his pastoral service, and especially in his old age and illness. In particular, I would like to thank those who remained close to him until the very end with devoted dedication. May the Lord reward them all, grant comfort to his family and loved ones, and bestow upon him the gift of His eternal peace.