Pope Francis left the Vatican on July 21 to take part in the funeral Mass of Father Diego Fares, SJ. The Argentine Jesuit, whom the future Pope Francis received into the Society of Jesus in 1976, died on July 19 at the age of 66.
Father Antonio Spadaro, SJ, the editor-in-chief of La Civiltà Cattolica (for which Father Fares was contributing editor), was the principal celebrant and homilist at the Mass, which took place in the chapel of the general curia of the Society of Jesus in Rome. Two Jesuit prefects of Vatican dicasteries were concelebrants.
In his Italian-language homily, Father Spadaro paid tribute to Father Fares as a good sower who taught philosophy and wrote while ministering to those in need. “Reread his [Father Fares’s] writings if you wish to understand the warm nucleus of the pontificate” of Pope Francis, Father Spadaro advised.
