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ROME – Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin on Sunday said the overwhelming love of Pope Francis must not be a flash of momentary emotion, but his legacy be welcomed and lived in the Church and the world.

Speaking during an April 27 Mass in St. Peter’s Square, Parolin noted that it was Divine Mercy Sunday, and that mercy was a central guiding principle throughout Francis’s papacy.

“It is important to welcome as a precious treasure this principle on which Pope Francis insisted so much,” he said.

“Our affection for him, which is being manifested in this time, must not remain a mere emotion of the moment; we must welcome his legacy and make it part of our lives, opening ourselves to God’s mercy and also being merciful to one another,” he said.

The Vatican’s Secretary of State for the entirely of Francis’s papacy, Parolin celebrated Mass on the second of the novemediales, or nine days of mourning, after the pope’s death last week. The Mass also coincided with the Jubilee for Teenagers and Divine Mercy Sunday.

“It is precisely the Father’s mercy, which is greater than our limitations and calculations, that characterized the Magisterium of Pope Francis and his intense apostolic activity,” Parolin said, saying the desire to share God’s mercy with everyone “was the principal theme of his pontificate.”

Pope Francis, he said, reminded believers that mercy “is the very name of God, and, therefore, no one can put a limit on his merciful love with which he wants to raise us up and make us new people.”

“Mercy takes us back to the heart of faith. It reminds us that we do not have to interpret our relationship with God and our being Church according to human or worldly categories,” he said.

The Gospel message is primarily the discovery of being loved by God, regardless of one’s merits, he said, saying it is also a reminder that “our life is woven with mercy.”

“We can only get back up after our falls and look to the future if we have someone who loves us without limits and forgives us,” he said, saying Christians must let go of calculations and selfishness in their relationships, and enter into dialogue with others in a spirit of mercy and forgiveness.

“Only mercy heals and creates a new world, putting out the fires of distrust, hatred and violence: this is the great teaching of Pope Francis,” he said.

Pope Francis died Monday, April 21, at the age of 88, after struggling with severe respiratory illness that had landed him in the hospital for 38 days earlier this year.

He was discharged March 23, and seemed to disregard doctors’ orders to rest, making several public appearances, including his final Easter Urbi et Orbi blessing and a surprise outing the popemobile to greet faithful who had gathered for the event.

Francis’s funeral was held Saturday, April 27, in St. Peter’s Square, and he was buried later that day in the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, his favorite Roman basilica, which he visited often and which is home to the famed icon, Maria Salus Populi Romani, or Mary Health of the Roman People.

His funeral began a nine-day period of mourning in the Catholic Church referred to as the novemediales, during which Masses are celebrated for the deceased pontiff and pre-conclave meetings of cardinals, called general congregations, are held to discuss the state of the Church, and the world, ahead of the election of the Church’s new universal pastor.

Parolin has emerged as a frontrunner papabile, or likely candidate who could be elected, in the lead up to the conclave.

His insistence that Francis’s legacy must not be forgotten or reduced to a momentary show of emotion will certainly draw attention from his fellow cardinals, and his extensive experience in diplomacy and gentle demeanor will help his chances, however significant questions remain about his record on finances, and the future of economic and institutional reform on his watch.

The general consensus among observers is that, while maintaining and carrying forward the spirit of Pope Francis’s pastoral and geopolitical agenda, Parolin is essentially a creature of the institution, and would therefore represent a step backward in many other key areas of priority for Francis.

Parolin’s novemediales Mass Sunday coincided with the Jubilee for Teenagers, during which the canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis was expected to take place, however, that has been postponed until after the election of a new pope.

In his homily, Parolin said the sadness at Pope Francis’s death and his absence for the celebration is accompanied by the joy of the resurrection, and by “the joy of the Gospel” that Francis had prioritized so much.

“The joy of Easter, which sustains us in this time of trial and sadness, is something that can almost be touched in this square today,” he said.

Referring to the feast of Divine Mercy, he called Pope Francis “a shining witness of a Church that bends down with tenderness towards those who are wounded and heals with the balm of mercy.”

Pope Francis, he said, reminded the Church and the world “that there can be no peace without the recognition of the other, without attention to those who are weaker and, above all, there can never be peace if we do not learn to forgive one another, showing each another the same mercy that God shows us.”

Divine Mercy Sunday is a time to remember Pope Francis, he said, and addressed the roughly 200,000 people present, saying, “to you, to all of us, to the whole world, Pope Francis extends his embrace from Heaven.”

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