By Devin Watkins
On the 160th anniversary of the birth of the Servant of God Rafael Merry del Val, Pope Leo XIV met with a group connected to the late Cardinal, who was born in 1865 in London.
The Pope reflected at length on Cardinal Merry del Val’s mission and legacy, calling him “a docile instrument in the diplomatic service of the Holy See during a time marked by great challenges.”
The future Cardinal was born to a Spanish diplomat father and an English mother, growing up in an atmosphere of universality, which he would later recognize as the Church’s own vocation.
Pope Leo XIII sent him to Canada as his Apostolic Delegate to advance Catholic education, and he studied at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy.
He later went on to lead the Academy, which is currently celebrating its 325th anniversary.
“There he came to understand—and to transmit by his example—that the Church’s diplomacy flourishes when it is lived in priestly fidelity, by a heart that offers its talents to Christ and to the mission entrusted to the Successor of Peter,” said the Pope.
At the young age of 38, Pope St. Pius X created him Cardinal and appointed him as Vatican Secretary of State.
“What followed,” said the Pope, “was a path of fidelity, discretion, and dedication that made him one of the most significant figures in pontifical diplomacy of the twentieth century.”
Even as Secretary of State, Cardinal Merry del Val worked with the children and young people of Rome’s Trastevere district, and became known as a father and a friend to those he catechized and accompanied.
Pope Leo XIV then reflected on Cardinal Merry del Val’s Litany of Humility, whose invocations he said outline a model for the Holy See’s diplomats.
“From the desire of being praised… deliver me, Jesus! From the desire of being consulted… deliver me, Jesus! From the fear of being humiliated… deliver me, Jesus! From the desire of being accepted… deliver me, Jesus!”
The Pope praised these expressions of a desire to put service to the Church over personal advancement, saying the Cardinal knew how to step back after his mandate as Secretary of State, in order to put the ministry of Peter first, beyond all personal interests.
“One who serves the Church does not seek for his own voice to prevail, but for the truth of Christ to speak,” he said. “And in that renunciation, he discovered the freedom of the true servant.”
Pope Leo went on to recall two short phrases that characterized Cardinal Merry del Val’s life.
He had only his episcopal motto—“Give me souls; take away rest”—inscribed on his tomb, which lies in the crypt of St. Peter’s Basilica.
“Beneath the dome that shelters the memory of the Apostle, he wished his name to be reduced to that simple plea,” said the Pope. “No honors, no titles, no biography—only the cry of a shepherd’s heart.”
The Cardinal’s Litany concludes with the phrase, “That others may become holier than I, provided that I become as holy as I should.”
Cardinal Merry del Val knew, concluded Pope Leo XIV, that holiness is not measured by comparison but by communion.
“May the Virgin Mary, whom Rafael Merry del Val loved with tender filial devotion, teach our families, the diplomats of the Holy See, and all who serve the Church, to unite truth and charity, prudence and courage, service and humility, so that in all things only Christ may shine forth.” – Vatican News
