Cardinal Bertone Inaugurates 84th Judicial Year with Vatican Tribunal

Invites Members to Carry Out Duties with ‘Humility and In Truth’

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On Saturday morning, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State, celebrated mass at the Chapel of Mary Mother of the Family in the Governorate Palace of the Vatican. The mass was held to inaugurate the 84thjudicial year of the Tribunal of Vatican City State.

Cardinal Bertone began his homily by greeting the President of the Tribunal, Giuseppe Dalla Torre, the judges, the promoter of justice, and the various workers in the administrative office. The cardinal relayed to them the “blessed greetings from the Holy Father who follows your appreciated labor with attentive interest.”

While commenting on the Gospel of the day which focused on St. John the Baptist, Cardinal Bertone emphasized St. John’s example as a call for all believers to put aside seeking attention and reducing one’s ego to make room for the love of Christ to grow in us and in others.

“This attitude requires humility of heart, which is a gift from God that we must unceasingly ask for in prayer,” the Cardinal said.

“This is why the John the Apostle, whom we listened to in the First Reading, […] recommends confident prayer to the Father who, if the one who asks is ready to do His will, will grant their request. We also ask and pray for our brothers and sisters, so that they might not remain obstinately in evil and thus refuse conversion.”

Cardinal Bertone went on to express his hope that through the celebration of the Mass, that through prayer all members of the Tribunal can carry out their duties with “humility and in truth.” The Vatican Secretary of State also urged those present that in the coming judicial, they may “be able to grow in the awareness that harmony, justice, and peace are not fully achievable without dedication to God and acceptance of His grace.”

“Each of us,” he concluded, “is also invited to an informed openness to the Transcendent, which the Holy Father recommended to the members of the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See a few days ago. He affirmed that without such openness, ‘humans easily fall prey to relativism and thus find it difficult to act justly or to commit themselves to peace’.” 

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