Pope Francis celebrated Mass at the Altar of the Chair of the Vatican Basilica in suffrage for all the cardinals and bishops who have died over the course of this year.
In the solemn ceremony, he once again brought up the idea of hope amidst the reality of death.
POPE FRANCIS
“The faith we profess in the resurrection makes us men and woman of hope, not despair, men and women of life, not death, for we are comforted by the promise of eternal life, grounded in our union with the risen Christ. This hope, rekindled in us by the word of God, helps us be trusting in the face of death.”
The pope said a fundamental mark of the Christian is the anxious expectation of one's final encounter with God.
He prayed for the souls of all the cardinals and bishops who lost their lives during the course of the year, by speaking of Christ's death and resurrection.
POPE FRANCIS
“They left us after having served the Church and the people entrusted to them in the prospect of eternity. As we now give thanks for their generous service to the Gospel and the Church, we seem to hear them repeat with the apostle: 'Hope does not disappoint.' Truly, it does not disappoint!”
He concluded by entrusting them to the Blessed Mother and praying that each of them enjoy God's eternal love, beauty, happiness and wisdom.
