Address of the Apostolic Nuncio, Msgr Luigi Bonazzi

Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral

Montréal, April 17, 2015

Dear brothers and sisters,

Today, in this moment of prayer and thanksgiving,

this is not only a farewell by the Archdiocese of Montréal,

it is not only a farewell

by the Church in Québec and in Canada,

it is also a Catholic farewell,

a farewell of the universal Church,

which accompanies the mortal remains

of our dear Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte.

Pope Francis is also with us,

with all the sincere friendship which linked him to Cardinal Turcotte.

The Holy Father remained close to the Archbishop Emeritus of Montréal

in the last months of his illness,

(he even called him for news)

and when he learned of Cardinal Turcotte’s death

he expressed his fervent condolences

through the message he sent

to His Grace, Archbishop Christian Lépine,

Archbishop of Montréal.

In his message, Pope Francis

recalled Cardinal Turcotte with emotion

as a “zealous pastor and attentive to the challenges of the contemporary Church … as a faithful pastor who served the Church

not only in his diocese but also at the national level …

as well as being a highly regarded member of the various Roman dicasteries.”

 Cardinal Turcotte always remained faithful to this friendship.

I was able to visit him on Good Friday past.

I was touched by his smile when opening his eyes, he recognized me.

I had the audacity to ask him:

“Your Eminence, you are joyful?” “Yes!”

“You are in the light? There is light within you? “. “Yes!”

And his bright face was expressing a “yes”

that was even stronger than the “yes” of his weakened voice.

We spent some time together

and at the end, I asked him, “Your Eminence,

do you want me to say something on your behalf to Pope Francis?

Do you have something to say to him?”

After a moment, with a very distinct voice and bright eyes he whispered to me:

“That I pray for him.”

I could not but tell him in my turn:

“And Pope Francis prays for you.”

And I withdrew.

There was within me – as I told his family and those who attended him –

a profound joy:

that of seeing a Christian, a bishop, who obviously

was going through the last stage of his life

with the awareness that he was going not to death,

but towards the door that leads from life, from this present life

to eternal life.

Yes, brothers and sisters, thanks to the gift of faith,

we can look upon Cardinal Turcotte

not as one who is dead

but as a brother alive in God

who continues to look at us, to be interested in us, to intercede for us.

And we discover that we are, here on earth,

a large family of fathers and mothers, of brothers and sisters, of friends

living in the expectation of being, one day, all reunited.

Thank you, dear Cardinal Turcotte.  Yes, indeed, a heartfelt thank you!

Au revoir!

We pray for you!

Pray for Pope Francis!

Pray for us!

We need your prayers to resume, with serene hope and courage,

the way that leads from this life to The Life.