Rome, Italy — On Thursday, November 2nd, at 10 a.m., Pope Francis celebrated Mass for all the faithful departed at the Rome War Cemetery. This is the war memorial in the Testaccio neighborhood of Rome that holds the remains of servicemen of the Commonwealth who, during World War II, fell in Rome.
The Pope spoke of two aspects in his homily: “Memory and hope. Memory of those who have gone before us,” expressing that they were received “in God’s mercy.” He stressed, “This is a mystery, this great mercy of the Lord. And then hope. Hope, this is a memory that looks forward. That looks at our journey, our road, our path. We walk towards an encounter, all of us, with the Lord.”
All Souls’ Day, also called the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed, is a day of prayer and remembrance for the faithful departed, observed on November 2nd. The clergy must recite the Office of the Dead on this day, and all the Masses are to be of Requiem.
This year, the Holy Father celebrated Mass for all the faithful departed at the Rome War Cemetery. The cemetery lies alongside and within the Aurelian Walls of the ancient city of Rome and contains 426 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War.
One thing particularly moved the Holy Father. He shared his impression as he entered the cemetery, “I saw at the entrance as I came in. I was looking at the age of these fallen. The majority died between the ages of 20 and 30. […] All the tears in these lives. These lives cut short.”
This tragedy of war was not just one of past memory. The Pope continued, “I couldn’t not think of the wars of today. Today, the same thing is happening. So many young people in the wars around the world…how many dead people. We destroy life without realizing it, without thinking about it. Today, thinking about the dead and the memory of the dead, we ask the Lord for peace so that people may not kill each other anymore.”
This November, let us follow the Holy Father’s example and remember to pray for all the faithful departed.
(Adapted by Jacob Stein)
