Pope Leo XIV at All Souls' Day Mass says "Christ tells us that our bond with the faithful departed is not interrupted...With prayers of suffrage, we accompany our loved ones toward full communion with the Lord" FULL TEXT Homily

This afternoon, at 4:00 pm, Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed, the Holy Father Leo XIV presided over the Eucharistic Celebration at the monumental entrance to the Verano Cemetery.
FULL TEXT  homily that the Pope delivered after the proclamation of the Gospel:



Dear brothers and sisters,

We have gathered to celebrate the Eucharist in this place of prayer and memory, of affection and hope. We offer it in suffrage for the faithful departed, especially those who rest here and those whom each of us holds dear.

Commemorating the faithful departed on the day after the Solemnity of All Saints guides this prayer. We turn to our Father in heaven so that the life of holiness and blessedness, already enjoyed by so many of his sons and daughters, may envelop the souls of all who sleep in the sleep of peace.

Our faith is enlightened by the Word that has been proclaimed and that enriches our trust in God's hands. These—the Book of Wisdom reminds us—are capable of effectively safeguarding the souls of the righteous: "no torment shall touch them" ( Wis 3:1). This is the promise of salvation, which especially on this day becomes the heart of the prayer we raise to the Lord of life for all the faithful departed.

May his paternal and sure hands guard them forever, so that they may fully enjoy that mutual and vital belonging that the Lord promises his people in the Book of Revelation: "They will be his people, and God himself will be with them, their God" ( Rev 21:3). Our prayer intercedes for the realization of this eternal communion of life, promised by the Good Shepherd to his sheep, who will not be lost forever and whom no one will snatch from his hand (cf. Jn 10:28).

Dearly beloved, we have listened to the Gospel of the Beatitudes ( Mt 5:1-12). They are like a self-portrait of Jesus, which He Himself makes available to His disciples, proclaiming: "Blessed are you!" (v. 11). The Beatitudes are the path to full and fulfilled life, now and for eternity. When we hear them proclaimed in the Liturgy—we know it—it is the Risen Lord who speaks to us. And this message of salvation that is the Beatitudes resonates with particular spiritual power in a cemetery, which is like a threshold between this world and the hereafter, between earthly existence and the beyond that awaits us. The Risen Jesus tells us: blessed are those who live according to this path, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Among the eight Beatitudes in the Gospel of Matthew, there is one that touches us in particular today: "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted" ( Mt 5:4). At this moment, we want to pray for those who have recently lost a loved one; especially those from whom the senseless violence of war has torn them away. May the tears of so many mothers, so many children, so many elderly people touch the consciences of those who have the power to silence the weapons!

On the eighth centenary of the death of Saint Francis of Assisi , it comes naturally to remember the “beatitude” that he added to the Canticle of the Creatures, when he understood that his end was near: « Praised be you, my Lord, through our sister bodily death, / from which no living man can escape: / woe to those who will die in mortal sin; / blessed are those who will find themselves in your most holy will, / for the second death will do them no harm ».

Dear brothers and sisters, faith in Christ tells us that our bond with the faithful departed is not interrupted, but transformed. With prayers of suffrage, we accompany our loved ones toward full communion with the Lord, that communion we truly anticipate already here, in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. Inspired by this hope-filled faith, we continue our earthly journey, awaiting the day when He will wipe away every tear, when "death will be no more, neither will mourning nor crying nor pain be anymore, for the former order has passed away" ( Rev 21:4).
Translated from Italian Holy See Bulletin