(November 3, 2008) On the day on which the Church commemorates all of the faithful
departed, Pope Benedict XVI has asked Christians to "evangelize the reality of death
and of eternal life, a reality particularly subject to superstitious beliefs and syncretism,
so that Christian truth does not risk being blended with mythologies of various kinds."
Speaking before the prayer of the Angelus, to the pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's
Square on Sunday, he said that "it is very important that we Christians live a relationship
with the departed in the truth of the faith, and that we look at death and the next
world in the light of Revelation." In support of this, he cited the words of St. Paul,
who said "not to be sad like those who have no hope," and "if in fact we believe that
Jesus has died and risen, so also God, through Jesus, will gather with him all those
who have died". The pontiff recalled that eternal life was one of the themes of his
encyclical "Spe Salvi." He spoke about a hope that transforms and upholds their life.
And more radically we ask whether the men and women of our age still desire eternal
life. He gave the observation of St Augustine, we all want 'the blessed life', happiness.
We do not know very well what this is, but we feel drawn to it. This is a universal
hope, common to the men of all times and places. Before the Marian prayer, the pontiff
exhorted all to renew their "hope in eternal life, solidly founded in the death and
resurrection of Christ. “I am risen, and now I am always with you', the Lord tells
us, 'and my hand upholds you. Wherever you might fall, you will fall into my hands,
and I will be present even at the gate of death. Where no one can accompany you any
longer, and where you can bring nothing, there I will wait for you to transform your
darkness into light'." "Christian hope," the Pope concluded, "is not, however, an
individual hope, it is always hope for others as well. Our existence is profoundly
connected to that of one another, and the good and evil that each one does always
affects the others. He ended the Angelus saying, “May Mary, the Star of Hope, make
our hope in eternal life stronger and more authentic, and support our prayers for
our departed brethren." At 6:30 this evening, the pope visited the crypt of the Vatican
basilica for a moment of prayer in private, on behalf of the Supreme Pontiffs buried
there, and of all the departed.