Pope Benedict XVI Prays All Souls' Angelus

(02 Nov 08 - RV) Pope Benedict XVI prayed the Angelus with thousands of faithful gathered in St. peter’s Square below his window in the Apostolic Palace on Sunday, November 2^nd, the Feast of all Souls.

In remarks before the Angelus prayer on the day the Church commemorates the faithful departed, Pope Benedict XVI called on 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."

The Pope said "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."

Citing the letters of St. Paul and referring to his own recent Encyclical, Spe Salvi, the Holy Father said the desire for eternal life is a universal hope, common to the men of all times and places.

Pope Benedict exhorted all the faithful to renew their "hope in eternal life, solidly founded in the death and resurrection of Christ.”
The Holy Father concluded, saying that Christian hope is not is always hope for others as well as for ourselves, since each of our lives is profoundly connected to those of others in the weave of existence, and the good and evil that each of us does always affects others.

“Thus,” said Pope Benedict, “the prayer of a pilgrim soul in the world can help another soul that is being purified after death. This is why the Church calls upon us to pray for our deceased loved ones, and to visit their graves.

The Holy Father prayed that Mary, Star of Hope, might make our hope in eternal life stronger and more authentic, and support our prayers for our departed brethren."

Angelus Domini…

After the traditional prayer of Marian devotion, Pope Benedict greeted the faithful in several languages, including English…

I offer a warm welcome to the English-speaking visitors gathered for this Angelus prayer. Today, All Souls Day, the Church commemorates the faithful departed and invites us, the living, to pray for their eternal repose in the peace of Christ’s Kingdom. Let us pray in a special way not only for our loved ones who have died, but also for all those who count on the charity of our prayers. Upon you and your families I invoke God’s abundant blessings!


At 6:30 this evening, the pope will visit the crypt of the Vatican basilica for a moment of prayer in private, on behalf of the Popes buried there, and of all the departed.

Tomorrow, the Pope is scheduled to celebrate a Mass of Suffrage for all of the cardinals and bishops who died this year.