Pope Francis offers mass for the souls of 169 deceased cardinal bishops

Pope Francis encouraged Catholics to pray for the dead and remember Christ's promise of resurrection at a mass offered Thursday for the souls of cardinals and bishops who died last year.

“The prayers for the faithful departed, offered in the trusting trust that they now live with God, are also of great benefit to ourselves in our earthly pilgrimage. They instill in us a true vision of life; they reveal to us the significance of the trials we must endure to enter the kingdom of God; they open our hearts to true freedom and incessantly inspire us to seek eternal riches, ”Pope Francis said on November 5.

“The eyes of faith, transcending visible things, see invisible realities in a certain way. Everything that happens is then evaluated in the light of another dimension, the dimension of eternity ”, said the Pope in his homily for the Mass in St. Peter's Basilica.

The mass, celebrated at the Altar of the Chair, was offered for the repose of the souls of six cardinals and 163 bishops who died between October 2019 and October 2020.

Among them are at least 13 bishops who died after contracting COVID-19 between March 25 and October 31, including Archbishop Oscar Cruz in the Philippines, Bishop Vincent Malone in England and Bishop Emilio Allue, Auxiliary Bishop of Boston. . Two other bishops who died in China and Bangladesh had recovered from the coronavirus before death.

Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, former prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education, also died this year, as did Malaysia's first cardinal, Cardinal Anthony Soter Fernandez, and former president of the US Bishops' Conference and archbishop emeritus of Cincinnati, l Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk. There were 16 American bishops among the dead.

“As we pray for the cardinals and bishops who have died this past year, we ask the Lord to help us to consider the parable of their lives correctly. We ask him to dispel that ungodly pain we occasionally feel, thinking that death is the end of everything. A feeling far from faith, but part of that human fear of death experienced by all ”, said Pope Francis.

“For this reason, before the enigma of death, believers too must be constantly converted. We are called on a daily basis to leave behind our instinctive image of death as the total destruction of a person. We are called to leave behind the visible world we take for granted, our usual and banal ways of thinking, and to entrust ourselves entirely to the Lord who tells us: 'I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even if they die, will live and all those who live and believe in me will never die. '"

Throughout the month of November, the Church makes a special effort to remember, honor and pray for the dead. This year, the Vatican has decreed that the Church's traditional plenary indulgences for the souls in Purgatory on the occasion of the Day of the Soul on November 2 have been extended until the end of the month.

In Thursday's mass, the pope said that Christ's resurrection was not a "distant mirage", but an event already present and now mysteriously at work in our lives.

“And so we remember with gratitude the testimony of deceased cardinals and bishops, rendered in fidelity to God's will. We pray for them and strive to follow their example. May the Lord continue to pour out his Spirit of wisdom upon us, especially during these times of trial, especially when the journey becomes more difficult, ”Pope Francis said.

"He does not abandon us, but remains among us, always faithful to his promise: 'Remember, I am with you always, until the end of the world'".