Cardinal Michael Czerny, SJ, the interim Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, traveled to Victoria, British Columbia, to preach the homily at the funeral Mass of Bishop Remi De Roo, who died on February 1 at the age of 97 (video, 1:11:30).

Bishop De Roo was a proponent of women’s ordination and a leading advocate of the Canadian bishops’ 1968 Winnipeg Statement on Humanae Vitae. His poor investments left the diocese $17 million in debt, and following his retirement, an inquiry found that he had broken canon law in spending funds.

Cardinal Czerny, a Canadian, preached, “Let us recall that above all, collegiality is made up of closeness, openness to dialogue, patience, and a cordial welcome that does not condemn; that belonging to the Church today is based more than ever on fidelity to the [Second Vatican] Council and on attention to the human heart, to community, to the common home, with ears and eyes attentive to the ‘signs of the times’ that continually reveal the presence of the One to come; that the rediscovery of synodality must inject new energy into every area of pastoral response: catechetics, liturgy, family, employment, justice, culture, social life, charity.”