Baldassare Reina

"[Pope Francis has left] an immense legacy, placing the Gospel of Jesus Christ at the centre of the Church. [...] I read in his will that he offered all his sufferings to the Lord for peace. [...] [His successor] inherits a Church within which Pope Francis had initiated and opened up various processes, processes that deserve to be deepened and further accompanied. This was one of the pillars of Pope Francis' teaching: rather than occupying spaces, initiate processes. He initiated so many, and we hope that his successor will be able to accompany these processes for the missionary reform of the Church. [...] History teaches us that any prediction [about the duration of the conclave] is likely to be wrong because, in reality, it is the Holy Spirit who guides the Church; it is the Holy Spirit who guides the conclave. Therefore, the Holy Spirit will dictate the timing, and we entrust ourselves to Him."

"During his years as Pope, Francis has placed great emphasis on the “Catholic” (universal) dimension of the Church, favouring the presence of pastors from all over the world, including in the composition of the College of Cardinals. The fact that he wanted a cardinal for your diocese does not contradict this line, but rather reinforces it, since Rome is called to preside over the communion and charity of all the Churches. In the Diocese of Rome, the universal character of the Church and its particular character come together in a special way. For this reason too, the closeness of Pope Francis, not only to me personally but to the whole Church, is a grace."

"(About illegal immigration) We cannot accept that in 2025 there will still be human waste. They are all brothers and sisters who deserve welcome, respect and dignity."

"[With regard to the vote on Pius XII's Salus Populi Romani and the liberation of Rome from Nazi-Fascist oppression (4 June 1944)] The vote was not only the expression of an imminent need in the face of fear, but it should also involve an act of constant conversion. [...] It is a real commitment. The Roman people, says the prelate, have a great devotion to the Virgin, but this devotion needs to be translated into concrete gestures, because otherwise there is a risk of separating religious devotion from daily practice. Faith and works must always go hand in hand."

"According to recent research (March 2025) carried out by Sapienza University of Rome and promoted by the Mayor of Rome, Prof. Roberto Gualtieri, and the City Councillor for Heritage and Housing Policy, Dr. Andrea Tobia Zevi, “An approximate total of around 114,000 households can therefore be estimated as being in a fragile housing situation in Rome and, therefore, overexposed to the risk of serious housing hardship.” This total includes “households in situations of serious emergency, identified as special populations: around 22,000 families”. All this in the presence of approximately 160-200,000 empty and unused private apartments! The problem is complex and has deep roots. It certainly does not help to note that in certain large suburban areas, there are reports of publicly owned dwellings that are uninhabited and awaiting allocation, These are easily exposed to possible squatting, often colluding with criminal activities in the area, such as drug dealing and prostitution. They are sometimes in poor condition, in need of structural renovation, or have many architectural barriers or non-functioning lifts, which isolate the many elderly people who live there alone and many disabled people. Meanwhile, “short-term” rentals are rampant, yielding much higher returns for landlords than “long-term” rentals, i.e. regular rental contracts, and are disrupting the social fabric of many neighbourhoods, not only in the centre. In July 2024, the Istat report indicated that in ten years, the resident population in the First Municipality had fallen by 38%, i.e. more than 20,000 people had moved elsewhere. Meanwhile, the number of short-term rentals on the web reached 35,000, including holiday homes and mini-apartments, without taking into account the irregular market."

"Q: In this sense, how should we interpret the Pope's decision to eliminate the central sector of the diocese? A: I would not speak of elimination, but I would start from Evangelii gaudium and from one of the principles most dear to Pope Francis in these 11 years: the Church that goes forth. If in this Church that goes forth we are not capable of reviewing the territorial organisation, it is not clear how we live this mission. The Pope's idea is that of greater interaction between the peripheries and the centre. The parishes in the centre cannot fail to feel the hardships of the peripheries, just as the peripheries cannot fail to participate in the beauty of the centre. So rather than eliminating the centre, I would say integrating the sectors of the diocese, including the centre."

"(Regarding the death of Pope Francis) In these days, Rome is a people mourning their bishop, a people together with other peoples who have lined up, finding a space among the places of the city to mourn and pray, like sheep without a shepherd. [...] Sheep without a shepherd: a metaphor that allows us to piece together the feelings of these days and to grasp the depth of the image we have received from the Gospel of John, the grain of wheat that must die to bear fruit. [...] A parable that tells of the shepherd's love for his flock."